Ever have a patient complain about you?

[love lilacs]

I recently had a patient that asked to speak to the manager about me. She also requested a different nurse to take care of her. Don't want to post the details because of privacy issues. I wish I could. Nothing serious at all, which really bothers me. I always try my hardest to do the best for all my patients, I really feel awful about the situation.

How are patient complaints about staff handled at your facility? I hate worrying about whether or not I'll lose my job over it. My facility always thinks the patient is right.

[TriciaJ, RN]

On 8/2/2019 at 3:26 AM, Oldmahubbard said:

If you have never had anyone complain about you, or you have never had anyone believe you are Florence Nightingale reincarnated in the flesh, then you haven't been doing it very long.

I'm sure people complained about Florence; just back then there was no one to complain to who cared.

[Crash_Cart]

Was wrapping up with a young ambulatory pt. with no physical limitations or other deficits whatsoever during a busy shift in the ER. Before her discharge she made a final request for a ginger ale, so I said, "Sure! i'll be right back..."

Took me about 30 seconds to actually do this task myself, rather than ask someone else, so I grabbed one out of the fridge, scraped up some ice for a styrofoam cup, then rushed back with everything and placed it on the bedside table while scurrying around the ER between pt's.

The pt. filed a complaint with the charge nurse stating that I didn't open the can of ginger ale, pour the ginger ale inside the styrofoam cup, remove the paper from the straw, and place the straw inside the cup for them.

The charge nurse later informed me then sarcastically inquired, "Where in the heck did you get your waiter license from?"

Looking sad and disappointed I replied, "I know..., she didn't even leave me a tip !"

[caffeinatednurse, BSN, RN]

It happens all the time. I've had pts yell at me, fire me, and report me to management for no reason at all. Sometimes it's things outside of my control - i.e. we were running a rapid response or a code next door, sir, which is why I couldn't bring you your melatonin or pain med at exactly ten o'clock. Or the resident is taking their sweet time putting orders in for meds/pharmacy is taking their sweet time verifying orders/etc., and the pt doesn't understand how hospitals or pharmacies work. Sometimes the quality of materials used doesn't match up to a pts expectations, especially if they thought they were checking into the Hilton. It all rolls down hill, and usually lands in the laps of nurses and CNAs to absorb the blame. I always try to be upfront and honest about what pts can expect, but that doesn't always work for every pt.

I do my best to take care of the smaller, more manageable complaints. A good manager can and will decipher between minor complaints and big issues that need to be attended to.