Should Nurses Accept Gifts from Patients?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

There is a discussion in Medscape Nursing about this.

http://medscapenursing.blogs.com/medscape_nursing/2008/05/should-nurses-a.html

Here are some of the nurses' opinions:

When offered a gift for services rendered, I have said that I'm adequately compensated, and don't need more calories.

Why not? How many physicians are out there accepting tokens from pharmaceutical companies?

These small gifts do more than just boost morale in a very demanding and at times thankless job.

When patients give gifts to their care givers, it can symbolize a shift in the relationship from professional/objective/therapeutic to more social and subjective and create a conflict of interest.

When a patient give a small gift to the nurses he is giving part of himself. To refuse would be the ultimate insult.

It is not an acceptable practice to accept gifts on an individual basis. We inform them (patients) that it is a team effort...

I don't feel that it is a bribe and I don't think that the families see it that way either. Often this is only way that they know how to say thank you.

I worked with a nurse who was disciplined for accepting gifts... when reps from companies come in they bring cookies, pens and provide lunch...are we now to say no to this as well?

When family members ask what they can do... we direct them to our charity department.

My previous employer had all employees sign a form stating they would not accept gifts of any kind from a patient or the patient's family.

To me these small gifts are more valuable than gold. I cherish every one of them.

I work with surgeons that accept expense gifts. Why shouldn't nurses?

I cannot think of anything more rude and insulting to refuse a gesture of kindness and appreciation from a patient who just wants to say a simple thankyou.

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

To be honest, I try not to accept gifts. It is because of the population I deal with. These people are uninsured, poor and the hospital is busting at the seams trying to care for such a voluminous amount of people. There are many that try to give gifts for bribary for small things...not having to wait in our clinics all day, to see the doctor of their preference (which, unfortunately, is not always a possibility) and other reasons. When I have witnessed nurses accept gifts from people, they were then expected to do these favors again and again, causing compromise. Sometimes, all a person can afford to do is buy a 99 cent cup for the nurse, this is literally all they had. And, for them, to give their last not to receive the little favor they expected has caused all out wars.

I do know that there are those that really wish to be kind, and I can understand that. But, in my area, there are usually strings attached, and I cannot always guarentee to keep promises, so, to be on the safe side, I don't accept them.

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

Oh, but let me add, if it is a pharmaceutical company, and I can get some interesting pens, then, YES, I take them, because they can afford it. And, I do like unique pens.

Specializes in CTICU.

It's actually against my hospital's policy to accept anything from a rep, apart from lunch for "educational" purposes. No pens/lanyards etc advertising manufacturers are permitted.

We do have families buying our program staff things like cookies etc as a token thanks, these are accepted as how can you refuse?!

Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

Last night I had a patient give me two of the (real Mexican, not that Taco Bell crap) tacos her husband brought her. I really tried to politely decline but the both of them insisted. Finally they won. I took the tacos and I'm glad I did. They were really good, and I'm still alive. And they were glad that I'd taken them and enjoyed them.

That said, I don't do this on a regular basis esp not with homemade food. I can count on one hand the # of times I've eaten homemade food, including this one. We do have families bring in (mother/baby floor) baskets of store-bought goodies, and I think that's appropriate.

Occasionally, since we have a good # of high-risk antepartum patients who are with us for weeks on end, the patients will have their baby shower in their room. They invite us to eat cake and take whatever leftovers sometimes, and under the circumstances we don't generally feel that this is bad or inappropriate. These people want to show their appreciation and since they can't exactly go out and buy gifts, this is their way. I for one think it's great. I'm not in it for the thanks but things like this make it worth going to work some nights!

I usually refuse but I have accepted the occasional soda, one family got all of the nurses pens, some send a tray of cookies, or a box of candy per shift. I would be never accept anything expensive or too personal.

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

When I attended nursing school, my professor told us that when a person asks if they can give a gift, suggest that they write a letter praising your good service instead. She said that getting enough of those can go a long way in gaining personal recognition and promotions. That made better sense to me. She also said that maybe it is better to give a group gift to the entire floor such as a cake, cookies, or such, if it really came down to it.

I have to say that it is true, many times, it may be more insulting to refuse than to just accept. I had just not been in the position where this has happened, and also, I do feel guilty (that is a personal thing, though), because I am already getting paid to do a service.

I remember the nursing home I worked in as an aide, and the patients used to 'tip' the CNAs for things like bathing them, placing them in bed on time and other things. I wasn't crazy about that, because again, it seemed that those that were not in a position to 'tip' were neglected moreso than those that did. We never know the circumstances of people and I don't want to take advantage of anyone in the most vulnerable time in their lives.

Accepting something meant for the staff as thanks is fine, in my opinion.

The hospital clinic I work in is very rural area and many of the patients are just existing on their SS. Often they bring in home-made goodies, jellies, jams, cookies etc. (even after kindly being told not to do so). We have a policy that it must be thrown away. It just makes me so sad that "little old ruthie" proudly carried in a jar of soup to share with the staff so they could eat lunch and after she has gone, we have to pitch it. We do have a sign posted for all to see about our policy, but some believe they are the fave pt. and ignore it. I just make sure I always thank them. Some pts. have nothing in their lives except these visits:cry:...Now the amount of excess food sent by the drug reps every day just kills. What a waste.

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
The hospital clinic I work in is very rural area and many of the patients are just existing on their SS. Often they bring in home-made goodies, jellies, jams, cookies etc. (even after kindly being told not to do so). We have a policy that it must be thrown away. It just makes me so sad that "little old ruthie" proudly carried in a jar of soup to share with the staff so they could eat lunch and after she has gone, we have to pitch it. We do have a sign posted for all to see about our policy, but some believe they are the fave pt. and ignore it. I just make sure I always thank them. Some pts. have nothing in their lives except these visits:cry:...Now the amount of excess food sent by the drug reps every day just kills. What a waste.

That is the issue I started having..that some of them believe that they are the 'favorite'. Of course, some pull our heart strings more than others, but it is best not to openly display that, or there is hell to pay for the rest.

Considering your situation, I wonder if your clinic would be better off changing their policy just a bit to say that things can be accepted as a group, rather than the individual. Either way, it is really a no win situation, because some people are grateful for any bit of attention or they are raised to show generousity towards those that serve them.

I had no idea there were policies against this. For my son's 100th day in the NICU (not that we were celebrating but it was a BIG milestone) we had Blooming Cookies deliver a huge gift basket for all the nurses in the NICU filled with treats. Would something like this be considered different then on an individual nurse basis? We weren't trying to butter anyone up, my son all ready had his Primary Nurses but we thought it would be a nice gesture since by then nearly every nurse had been with my son on some shift. Very interesting discussion.

Loralei, that was fine and most places would have no problem with it. It's when pts try to give expensive gifts to individual nurses that it's a problem, and that is why the rules are instituted.

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