Do patients know a "good nurse"?

[NursesRmofun]

This is a subjective question with poll. I am not sure if patients, in general (the average patient), really knows who a good nurse is. I once worked with a very charming woman who was slow and couldn't seem to do much more than get her meds out. She did have a gift for gab and the patients seemed to love it. Plus she knew many from living in the surrounding area much of her life, church, her children, etc. I got all of my meds done, all my assessments, all my bed baths, lotioned and massaged my patients and held their hands...but didn't really gab. Somehow, I think a lot of our recurrent patients and "regulars" would prefer her. I just wonder how many patients would understand that you might be better with the nurse that really did a good assessment and got all the more important things done.

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

Re anonymous865's post #5:

I don't think that what separated the 2 nurses was the gift of gab. I think one was better at pt teaching. Pt teaching requires communication on a level that the pt can understand.

A lack of appropriate pt teaching, which also falls in nurses realm more often than the MDs in many cases, can lead to non compliance.

I want my pts to be med compliant because I want their health to be stable.

Maybe I'm still idealizing because I'm a new nurse.

But my goal is pt teaching. I have had times in which I was too busy with other tasks to explain/convince a pt to accept a med or tx, but in most cases I was able to take the time to explain the reasons why and the rationale.

I think that's my job, as a nurse.

[Karou]

The idea of being a good nurse from a patients perspective depends on what the patient values. They may care more about their emotional needs being met than they do about their medical ones.

Also, so many people still view nurses as selfless women with a calling to serve others. Compassionate, sweet, modest, ect... So that's what they expect. Anything less would not make a "good" nurse to them.

I don't think most patients know a good nurse from a bad one because too many people still don't have a realistic idea what a nurse is or does.

[Anonymous865]

Also, Anonymus, what kind of job do you do? Do you work 12-15+ hours with no (I mean no) breaks? Without pay? No food, no water. So you had a bad experience with a nurse. The majority of us work very hard because we are dedicated to people at our own expense. When the public starts thinking that we are maids and waiters ("get me my coffee", "I need a salad")...they forget that we are professionals with college educations...we can save your life... Give us our due respect.

First - the question posed by the OP was whether patients can recognize a good or bad nurse.

As a patient I think it is reasonable for me to argue whether a patient can recognize a good or bad nurse. Some can. Some cannot.

I gave an example of when a nurse recognized a change in my mother's condition and took appropriate action. I said that was a good nurse. I think most nurses would agree that that constitutes good nursing care.

I gave an example of when a nurse did not know what drug she was giving me. I think most nurses would agree that not knowing what drug you are giving to a patient is not good practice.

I never said that all nurses are bad. I said that not all patients are stupid. I argued that some patients can discern when they have a good nurse or a bad nurse. I gave an example of how one patient defines a good vs. a bad nurse. That is NOT attacking all nurses.

I never said that you have to be a maid or a waiter to be a good nurse. I have in fact repeatedly said that the people I know don't care whether the nurse brings them water or fluffs their pillow or brings them coffee or finds them red jello.

I have always treated nurses with respect just as I treat school teachers, janitors, physicians, plumbers, etc. with respect. EVERY job makes an important contribution.

You don't seem to feel the same respect for patients. Many of your patients have college educations. Many have graduate degrees. Most would say they worked very hard to earn their degrees too. Just because your patient isn't a nurse does not mean they are stupid.

[rnccf2007, BSN, RN]

Sorry, but the truth. Not many people would work under such circumstances and still have empathy and compassion for others. My patients generally love me and a passion of mine is to always give them a heads up---meds, new orders, procedures,etc. I sometimes cry on my way home from work, because I can't provide the best care possible related to staffing at my hospital. Also work HHC and clients always request me to come back. My own health is suffering. The public needs to know the truth (and most of them do...patients are not stupid). Sorry, but I have an issue with someone who is not in the healthcare profession (and it is all big money now) billing doctors as the money makers. Yes...they are...but we are the gatekeepers...and any nurse worth their salt knows this. I do not feel that I have to apologize for an incompetent nurse.

[rnccf2007, BSN, RN]

Sorry, still just curious. Why are you on a nursing blog site?

[Anonymous865]

And your comment "he was a huge money make for the hospital" totally offends me. We may not be huge money makers but we are the very people who save lives...all we ask is your health.

Do I need to explain to you that the Drs who bring in lots of money into a hospital have the ear of top hospital management. If the big money makers are happy and tell top management how happy they are, then management praises the staff that made that Dr happy.

Praising the nurses to this big money maker, may make him praise the nurses to management. That will make management happy with the nurses.

If a patient praises the staff, then management is happy. If a big money maker praises the nurses, then management is VERY HAPPY. This hospital give bonuses to staff, and getting praise from the Dr for the nurses would help the nursing staff get a good annual bonus. A thank you from the patient is nice, but a bonus is even better.

[Anonymous865]

Sorry, still just curious. Why are you on a nursing blog site?

I design the stuff you use every day in your job. We have nurses who work for us. We get feedback from customers. This is another way to better understand what is/is not working, get ideas of what we need to improve, etc.

I suspect there are a lot of people who work in an associated field on here.

[rnccf2007, BSN, RN]

Wow,

Where did I ever say this?

You state:

"I have always treated nurses with respect just as I treat school teachers, janitors, physicians, plumbers, etc. with respect. EVERY job makes an important contribution."

[COLOR=#000000]"You don't seem to feel the same respect for patients. Many of your patients have college educations. Many have graduate degrees. Most would say they worked very hard to earn their degrees too. Just because your patient isn't a nurse does not mean they are stupid."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#000000]Shows your ignorance. As a matter of fact I never stated such a thing in my posts. I treat every human being and patient with dignity and respect as a human being---homeless, wealthy, HIV positive, prisoner, member of the board...because that is my nature and how I was brought up...Everyone treated the same because we are all made from God.[/COLOR]

[VANurse2010]

Good lord, this thread went awry in a hurry. I think the nurse described in that scenario was an idiot, but mentioning the money-making surgeons is a tad unseemly as well. Basically, you're all crazy.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Anonimous865,

I am sorry that you have a negative experience with one of your nurses, but just to let you know:

- hospital pharmacies routinely substitute one drug for another, and one brand of the same drug for another. While doing so, they in 99.99% of times consider only two things: dose/pharm class and cost. In case of Benicar, which is, BTW, not exactly the same class as Diovan (Diovan is a pure angiotensin II receptor antagonist while Benicar also contains hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic which increases the effect of the first component but has its own side effects and so there are cases when Benicar is contraindicated while Diovan is still OK to take), pharmacy can substitute generic angiotensin II receptor antagonist and a diuretic just because it is cheaper, because patient can take only one of the components, or because doctor wants another diuretic or the same but in another dose. Doctors usually do not tell nurses why they think the dose of a med needs to be changed, and may become quite obnoxious if we ask. Nurses have no control whatsoever on the process of substituting meds by pharmacy. So, every single of your "home pills" may or may not look exactly like the pill you take home, and nurse cannot do anything with it even if she wants.

- if you want to take exactly your home meds, feel free to bring all the bottles in hospital with original labels still on. They will be checked by pharmacist and given to you. But if your doctor thinks you need to take something else, you will be given what is available in pharmacy. If you still have questions about why you are given this and not that pill, ask your doctor, not nurse.

I am sorry again, but the nurse you characterized as "NOT good" did precisely what she was trained for, not more and not less, maybe in a bit curt way. She might be uncomfortable to say that she could not have a slightlest idea why one drug was substituted for another and almost no way to figure it out, that she was afraid to call doctor right away and be yelled for doing that, or just too busy (how many other patients she was caring for?) In any case, if the situation looked like you described it, then it was indeed too much to ask from a professional nurse.

Benicar HCT contains HCTZ. Benicar does not.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

This is a subjective question with poll. I am not sure if patients, in general (the average patient), really knows who a good nurse is. I once worked with a very charming woman who was slow and couldn't seem to do much more than get her meds out. She did have a gift for gab and the patients seemed to love it. Plus she knew many from living in the surrounding area much of her life, church, her children, etc. I got all of my meds done, all my assessments, all my bed baths, lotioned and massaged my patients and held their hands...but didn't really gab. Somehow, I think a lot of our recurrent patients and "regulars" would prefer her. I just wonder how many patients would understand that you might be better with the nurse that really did a good assessment and got all the more important things done.

I've had this discussion with many folks over the years. Most patients believe that the nurse who does the most pillow fluffing and hand holding is the better nurse. Usually -- and I don't say always -- this is not the case.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

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