OK, here's a good one: Same psych hospital I mentioned in the "called on the carpet" thread allows discharged patients to fill out a "satisfaction survey" before they leave. Now, in all fairness, some of these patients were more than complimentary, and we would get a little note in our mailbox if they mentioned us in a positive way. On he flip side, if someone said something negative, we would get a reprimand. Remember, now, these are certified PSYCH patients, and the management would take these things seriously! I had more than a few talkings to because (GASP!) I would not give 4 Lorcets to a patient at a time because "that's the way I take them at home!"
The crowning indignity was this one woman who put on her paper that I "made faces" at her through her admission and that I "called her names". The faces I made were at her 2 year old that she BROUGHT WITH HER while she was being admitted, and the name? She overheard another nurse and I discussing music, and later put on her d/c papers that I called her an "All American Reject".
This case was very interesting, simply because, during an admission, the first question you asked was "Why are you here?" She replied "I just found out I have HIV." I asked when she was diagnosed, and she said, "Oh, my family and friends told me I have it." No doctor visit, not bloodwork, nothing. And management took these people seriously.
So, my question is: does your facility have anything in place like this? I'd be interested to hear about it. Thanks for reading.
Hate to be the bad guy, but I can kind of understand the allergy band on someone with no allergies. Our bands get cut off for various reasons - attempting to start a new IV on that arm, patient just randomly decides to take it off, etc. At least if you have something there that says NKA, you know that they don't have allergies - instead of it being a patient with a list of allergies that had their band removed an hour earlier.
Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.
I know it sounds awful, because ya know, psych patients do have the same rights to proper and dignified care as the rest of us...
but at the same time... I really do have to agree that having psych patients fill out discharge satisfaction surveys, as well as "grievance reports", is... maybe not the BEST idea. Or, an idea that somehow needs to be... TAILORED.
At the psych hospital where I worked until two months ago... we had little "grievance reports", forms that patients could fill out and just put whatever complaints they had on them, then drop them in a little box. There was a sign posted that said that ALL of their complaints would be taken seriously. Ummm-hmmm. We had patients who would fill out twenty of those things a day, I kid you not.
When I went through their orientation... one of our orientation instructors STRESSED to us that those grievance reports really WERE taken VERY seriously.... and then he went on to tell us a funny story.....
He said that someone filled out a grievance form one day and dropped it in the box. On the grievance form was written just..... two... words....
"TATER TOT"
Nothing else.
So they actually investigated, and found out that it was a patient who was very upset that the cafeteria was serving tater tots that day, and when he received his tray it only had...... one, lone, single tater tot on it. He wanted more tater tots!!!!!
Specializes in Spinal Cord injuries, Emergency+EMS.
Hate to be the bad guy, but I can kind of understand the allergy band on someone with no allergies. Our bands get cut off for various reasons - attempting to start a new IV on that arm, patient just randomly decides to take it off, etc. At least if you have something there that says NKA, you know that they don't have allergies - instead of it being a patient with a list of allergies that had their band removed an hour earlier.
or as is standard Uk practice now - a single band with the demographics on and a way of indicating allergies or not - we use 'blue or white' for no alegies and red for any allergy or drug related caution ( e.g. can't have NSAIDs etc)
Our hospital came up with the brilliant idea that EVERY patient should have a red allergy band applied, if they have an allergy or not. If the patient does not have an allergy, we write NKA on the band. Great alert, huh?
I've seen that at several different places. Have also seen where EVERYONE wears a Code Band - whether you are a DNR or not. Then you have to try to decipher the markings on the band to figure out if you are breaking ribs or not that day.
The nurses in our hospital are required to give each other report in English. Now, if I was a patient, and my nurses both spoke another language more fluently than English, I'd want them to speak that other language to each other during report.
I aked what the rationale for this was and I was told 1) Because this is America and we speak English here, 2) Because the patients don't like to hear people talking in another language, it makes them paranoid.
1) One I won't even address. 2) But we never give report in front of the patient. In fact, nurses don't give report in front of anyone, which, thankfully, makes the rule unenforceable. And what if the patient is also more fluent in the language that the nurses speak (which happens quite often here with the large Fillippino and Spanish populations). Wouldn't the nurses speaking English make the patient paranoid? (Why are my two Spanish speaking nurses talking in English when they know I don't speak it that well?)
Specializes in Day Surgery, Agency, Cath Lab, LTC/Psych.
Here is what I consider a dumb rule:
The nurses in our hospital are required to give each other report in English. Now, if I was a patient, and my nurses both spoke another language more fluently than English, I'd want them to speak that other language to each other during report.
I aked what the rationale for this was and I was told 1) Because this is America and we speak English here, 2) Because the patients don't like to hear people talking in another language, it makes them paranoid.
1) One I won't even address. 2) But we never give report in front of the patient. In fact, nurses don't give report in front of anyone, which, thankfully, makes the rule unenforceable. And what if the patient is also more fluent in the language that the nurses speak (which happens quite often here with the large Fillippino and Spanish populations). Wouldn't the nurses speaking English make the patient paranoid? (Why are my two Spanish speaking nurses talking in English when they know I don't speak it that well?)
Actually, that makes sense to me. Not for either of the rationales listed but for another reason. I have worked with many, many Spanish speaking nurses and physicians who communicate with their colleagues only in English. Not everyone is fluent in medical terminology in their native language. These nurses took the NCLEX in English. Their state board of nursing has confirmed that they know English medical terminology but it has never verified that they know medical terminology in their native language. Why risk the translation issues? I don't think report should be switching from language to language. Too much risk of mistranslation to me.
The nurses in our hospital are required to give each other report in English. Now, if I was a patient, and my nurses both spoke another language more fluently than English, I'd want them to speak that other language to each other during report.
I aked what the rationale for this was and I was told 1) Because this is America and we speak English here, 2) Because the patients don't like to hear people talking in another language, it makes them paranoid.
1) One I won't even address. 2) But we never give report in front of the patient. In fact, nurses don't give report in front of anyone, which, thankfully, makes the rule unenforceable. And what if the patient is also more fluent in the language that the nurses speak (which happens quite often here with the large Fillippino and Spanish populations). Wouldn't the nurses speaking English make the patient paranoid? (Why are my two Spanish speaking nurses talking in English when they know I don't speak it that well?)
1. I see in your profile you're in the US. Time to learn, don't you think?
2. "Why are my two Spanish speaking nurses talking in English when they know I don't speak it that well?" See #1
Specializes in Psych, Assertive Community Resource Team.
I work on a psychiatric unit too, and we also those "nifty" little grievance reports and we now have an interim manager that has no psychiatric experience. So now we keep getting called in to her office for complaints like "Mrs. P says you poisoned her food with bleach" or "Mr. X said that he was denied water for 2 weeks during his stay". The real kicker was when she suggested I write a letter of apology to a women that claimed I stole her un-born baby. Get real lady, they are called DELUSIONS. Fortunately the DON agreed with me, but for God's sakes, how can anyone take that seriously?
Whenever we go into a patients room at the beginning of the shift to introduce ourselves we have to write the date, room number, RN: *name here* with cell extension, CNA: *name here* with cell extension and a mutual goal on the white board in the room. It all has to be in black because the patients can't read any other color other than black. Fine, whatever. When I ask what the goal is I always get "sleep" or "Go home." Almost all my patients get "comfort" or "Pain control" on the board.
Here's what I don't like: If we don't get our act together and start doing this every time our NM said she will find us another floor to work on that is "a better fit" for us. She's the queen bee of the NM's and has the capability to get you transferred or keep you from getting a transfer. I kinda just wanna stop writing on the board just so I can switch floors.
1. I see in your profile you're in the US. Time to learn, don't you think?
I'm not sure what that's supposed to be about. I was born in the US and I'm a native English speaker. As a writer and a former editor with over 15 years of professional experience, I consider myself something of an expert on the English language.
As a nurse working in Southern California, I think it's time that I learned Spanish, actually.
widi96
276 Posts
Hate to be the bad guy, but I can kind of understand the allergy band on someone with no allergies. Our bands get cut off for various reasons - attempting to start a new IV on that arm, patient just randomly decides to take it off, etc. At least if you have something there that says NKA, you know that they don't have allergies - instead of it being a patient with a list of allergies that had their band removed an hour earlier.