"VIP" pts

Nurses General Nursing

Published

wanted to get a sense of how my fellow nurses deal with pts who come into the hospital as VIP pts....there's this sense of let's drop everything and cater to these people and screw the rest of the pt population! that burns me up :( and admin supports that too for the obvious reasons.....let me know how you guys deal with that...thanks....

Specializes in surgical, emergency.

We have, on occasion, had "VIP'S" have sugery in our small rural hospital.

For the most part, it has been CEO's, and other upper management people.

We, for the most, treated them just as we would anyone else. Let's face it, when they put on the OR hat, and put on the gown with the open back, they look like anyone else too!!!

When I say for the most part, we tend to talk with them differently, because we know them, and they are in the business. But again, we do that with "normal" people that fit those criteria too.

If I was in the hospital, I want the staff to do things the way they always do things. As long as their level of care is good normally, a routine lessens the chance of a mistake, I feel.

Think of when you were doing a procedure with your instructor watching. Even though you knew the procedure down cold, with someone watching, I bet you might find that you were second guessing yourself. Same thing with a VIP on the table. He or she, is going to get my best effort, just like anyone else. Maybe the conversation would be a little different, but that's about it.

When I was in school, my instructor worked for a while on a unit called THE GOLDEN ROW. It was in a Pittsburgh Pa, hospital, and that's where all the Steelers and other jocks went. That would be cool

Mike

0 Votes

I too work in the middle of bfe. The closest thing to a VIP we ever get are board members, VPs, CEO (or CEIEIOs as I like to call them) or their families. And yep it burns my hiney to have some suit tell us to "be nice" to these folks. Like we routinely abuse and neglect our pts. You know whether you are living in the gutter or some "upper class" ppl, you are going to get what you need, and then some. We have some awesome nurses that really do care about their pts. By the way, the up side to living in bfe...when I have had the occasion to have family in or myself, we have been treated like family and in my book that's way better than being treated as a VIP.:)

0 Votes

We have an entire "VIP floor"

$1000/night to stay in your own huge private room there and of course you get the special menu (lobster, filet, whatever) which gets delivered to your room by guys in tuxes pushing china carts.

I had to be a "sitter" (more like personal b**ch) once up there. Patient paid for someone to sit and talk to them all day, get them fresh water, etc.

I think all patients should be "VIPs"....

I totally agree w/the above statement! (well maybe not the lobster)

0 Votes
Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
wanted to get a sense of how my fellow nurses deal with pts who come into the hospital as VIP pts....there's this sense of let's drop everything and cater to these people and screw the rest of the pt population! that burns me up :( and admin supports that too for the obvious reasons.....let me know how you guys deal with that...thanks....

Living in Nashville we get country music stars and yes admin caters to them. We also get those that are friends of the CEO or CNO, or those who threaten to go to admin or the media about everything or anything. I treat them the same as I do any other patient.

0 Votes

The only time I can remember ever having a "VIP" patient was when the (now)former president of my college was admitted...she was put into one of our hospice rooms(which would creep me out a little bit, what with the plaque on the wall stating what it was and the patient having a terminal illness, but, hey, whatever.) The only especially annoying thing she did was insist that we fill her humidifier with our sterile water supply. Took about 6 bottles and depleted us for the night. Never mind the dressing changes or anything...

0 Votes

Lots of VIP's need special protection too from rabid fans or whatever, so in those cases alittle tlc to protect the patient is probably called for.

I had to "sit" for a VIP once too, the same, just to be a slave. I called staffing and transferred. I can't stand that. I want to work where I'm needed.

0 Votes
Specializes in Critical Care/ICU.
Lots of VIP's need special protection too from rabid fans or whatever, so in those cases alittle tlc to protect the patient is probably called for.

This is very true. The patient I mentioned in my post near the beginning of this thread wanted a keep a very low profile. He didn't want tabliods getting a hold of info about his health. It could have had great detriment to his career. I can completely respect that.

Once he was up and about he was very nice. DIdn't mind taking pictures with nurses and sat in our break room! He even walked around the unit and socialized with family members of other patients. What a great guy and very funny too! I'm glad I had the pleasure of caring for him and seeing him through a really difficult and scary time in his otherwise very public life.

0 Votes

I work in a rural hospital and we don't have VIP's so to speak. The problem at our hospital is the "private insurance vs. medicaid patients" issue which makes me sick. In my opinion, any time you cater to one group of people or one person over the other it is discrimination. You would not believe the hoops that management jump through in order to satisfy those with private insurance...or maybe this goes on elsewhere?

0 Votes
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Lots of VIP's need special protection too from rabid fans or whatever, so in those cases alittle tlc to protect the patient is probably called for.

I had to "sit" for a VIP once too, the same, just to be a slave. I called staffing and transferred. I can't stand that. I want to work where I'm needed.

security is ONE thing

loading up an OR for a VIP with excess staffing is quite another. so is expecting nurses to "Butler" for one.

0 Votes

I work at a public level 1 trauma center on the trauma/orthopedics unit. We have some private rooms and some doubles, and the private rooms are the closest thing to VIP room that there is--same decor, etc, just one bed instead of two, in the same size room as a double. For us, the 'VIP' patients are either hospital employees or their family members, patients under age 18, so a family member can stay the night with them, or people who have tons of injuries (3-4 limbs broken, long expected stay, lots of medical needs). So our rooms are generally given to those who NEED them more, not those who WANT them more. We do take requests from patients in double rooms to move them to a private room, but usually not. Most of the time we end up moving a double room pt who is demented or has psych issues that involve making a lot of noise and being disturbing to a roommate. I like things this way.

0 Votes

We used to have a nurse on this forum (Las Vegas..haven't seen her awhile) who worked around lots of celebrities and had to learn to 'cater' to them, and work with their spoiled personalities. She enjoyed it. To each his own.

All my patients are VIP's and are treated compassionatly and competently...but I didn't go to nursing school to 'wait on' anybody. (and my biggest pet peeve is the little old ladies who ask me if 'I'm the nurse waiting on' her today...GRRR.)

I doubt I could work on a VIP ward...it would turn my stomach. But I guess if one has better staffing on these wards, one could learn to take the bad with the good. ;)

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment