Kind of random...

[SashaSue]

This is so random it's almost OT, but I'm posting it anyway.

I'm currently working on prerequisites to apply to grad entry psych. np programs. My grandfather is currently in the hospital (kind of a suck hospital, it seems to me), waiting to get well enough to be movced into hospice care. Some members of the nursing staff have been extra specially helpful and great, with things like helping my grandmother figure out what's going on, advocating for certain treatment changes with his doctors, answering my (probably super annoying) questions about both his treatment and nursing generally. Eventually he will be leaving, one way or another (I hate to sound so morbid about it, but that's where things are). When he does, I'd really like to do something to thank the nursing staff for being so great (my grandmother's been in this hospital before, and the nursing care was not at all impressive, so I feel like the nurses working w/my grandfather now are kind of going above and beyond the hospital's expectations). All I can think of is sending them vats of flowers and fruit, but there's probably something better?

So I'm wondering about what kind of appreciative gestures you guys have gotten in the past that really meant something to you? Or what kind of ... I don't know, random little thing it might make your day to have show up?

I'm not sure how coherently I've asked this question, after being in a tiny, hot, hospital room with two crazy old people all day, my brain's a little broken, but hopefully I've conveyed the gist of the crux.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[talaxandra]

We often get flowers and chocolate, but lovely though this is I really appreciate it when a patient or family member takes the time to write to the Nurse Unit Manager, Director of Nursing or CEO about the care they received.

[Tait, MSN, RN]

We often get flowers and chocolate, but lovely though this is I really appreciate it when a patient or family member takes the time to write to the Nurse Unit Manager, Director of Nursing or CEO about the care they received.

Yeah a simple note of thanks goes a very long way.

We like to hear that we have made a difference.

Best of luck with your family, and may the future be peaceful,

Tait

[blondnursey]

a nice letter to the editor of the local paper and the hospital ceo would be nice too.

and staff always likes food stuff.

or a few bottles of nice hand lotion for the staff lounge is good too.

my hands get sooooo dried out ..

[kk637]

yes.. great ideas! I would definitely let mgmt know the great staff they got employed for them!

[rachelgeorgina]

We had a pt's family bring in several big boxes of lebanese sweets (obviously they were lebanese!) for the staff the day the pt was being discharged (after a long admission). We had an afternoon tea party!

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

a selection of coffees and teas and even a nice coffeepot...

personal notes as well as notes to the boss...

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Letters of thanks are at the top of my list, I've saved mine for years.

Food is always good, and it can be simple or extravagant, per your own taste.

[boggle, ASN, RN]

A brief note is always tops on my list. Name names to! Chocolates go quickly to my hips, but kind words last forever in my heart.

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

We often get flowers and chocolate, but lovely though this is I really appreciate it when a patient or family member takes the time to write to the Nurse Unit Manager, Director of Nursing or CEO about the care they received.

This is exactly right. Write a note their DON. You can even send a copy to the nurses.

[SashaSue]

I love those suggestions, thanks so much! Writing a letter to their DON seems like such an obvious thought, but it's one I hadn't had. And maybe more personal notes to the specific nurses who have really gone out of their way advocating for his treatment and such. Because the dr.'s have not impressed me nearly so much as the nurses.

No calories/nurtition of any kind in the IV drips of someone who's not eating? A switch from IV morphine to liquid oral lortab because it's something he could continue at home, when he's going to hospice, not home, as the dr. would have known if he'd done more than a precursory glance at his chart? Haldol for "anxiety," despite that being like hitting a straight pin with a sledgehammer, and of course, its being contraindicated for an older patient with demential related psychosis? I could go on and on with the things like this with which the nursing staff has helped us. All of which have made a big difference in my grandfather's daily quality of life, which is really all we're shooting for at this point.

[talaxandra]

We often get cards, sometimes mentioning specific nurses by name, which is lovely, but the thank you I will always remember was a letter to the DON from a family member that singled out me and a social worker. We both got copies of the letter and the responses both our heads of department sent back, and a copy went in my personnel file.

I really appreciated that, in the midst of her own turmoil and adjustment, she took the time not only to notice what we did to help but also then followed up. And bringing it to the attention of my management chain allowed them to focus on aspects of my performance that are less measurable than other indicators, but no less valuable.

It also inspired me to write similar letters when I have been impressed by someone - in retail, healthcare or hospitality.

I am so pleased that your experience with the nurses where your grandfather is being treated has been so positive, especially at such a distressing time.