HCAP scores - I can live without them

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Specializes in Cardiovascular, ER.

I have worked in several hospitals so far. The one I currently work in is the first facility that is not obsessed with hcap scores. It is amazing to see the difference in patient satisfaction/coworker satisfaction. Almost all of my patients that come through the ER say "I would never go anywhere but this hospital - you guys are the best" (there are about 6 or 7 sizable hospitals in the area).

All of my coworkers walk around doing their thing with smiles and the team work is unbelievable. No one walks on egg shells, terrified of the micromanaging bosses walking in. It's the opposite, they all say that they probably will never leave - they see each other as family.

I'm not trying to make this a corny post, but I am still shell shocked. All of my previous facilities are placing more and more emphasis on these blasted scores and morale is in the toilet - and patient complaints are a daily thing. It was daily new "tasks" to boost pt satisfaction that were bogging down already overloaded staff. I was beginning to really hate nursing. The dread in the pit of my stomach before leaving for work......

God, I hope the hospital I am at doesn't conform to the trend.

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Specializes in Vascular Neurology and Neurocritical Care.

Well, it's good to finally here good news on this forum. Not trashing anything, but too many times do we hear bad news, it is very refreshing to hear something positive. Glad to hear that you are enjoying yourself. Doesn't that make that 12 hour shift go by so much easier and faster!

Best wishes to your long career there!

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It's not the fault of HCAHPS that the other places had bad morale- it was more likely a problem with leadership. HCAHPS is simply a measure of the patient's satisfaction on basic questions about their experience. For fun, go and compare your current employer with the previous employers. Try www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov

We blame the surveys for causing bad morale, but from my experience, it's the quality of leadership that makes or breaks employee morale.

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Specializes in Cardiovascular, ER.

country mom - thanks for the website, nobody does that well on it (at least not the ones i look up). you have a point about the leadership, i am not blaming everything on the scores. it's the obsession with the score that is getting ridiculous, especially when people are losing their jobs because they get a patient complaint (one of my former facilities has fired around 40 nurses in the past month - new rule is 1 patient complaint and you are out).

they kept adding all these extra's on your "to do" list to kiss pt butts that i found demeaning. all to boost scores. i am all about going above and beyond for my patients, because i want to - not because i am forced to so that the higher ups can high five each other..... and certainly not for a higher score.

i just wish that leadership would realize that yes it is good to strive to be better, we should always strive to give the best care we can. try as hard as we may, some patients will never feel satisfied with their care. you can never get that dilaudid or that glass of water there fast enough, and no VIP blanket or snack pack with a paper flower and smiley face sticker to go on discharge will change that.

perhaps lowering nurse/patient ratio, making charting more efficient so you are not having to double/triple chart things, and treating staff with more courtesy and respect will increase the scores. who knows, don't mind me.... i am just giving my opinion, right or wrong.

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You are so right! All they care about is Press Ganey scores and it's killing the staff. Your hospital will probably follow suit eventually, but in the mean time you can build comraderie and focus on the essentials.

My last hospital went a year of hourly rounding and signing a sheet attesting to having done your rounding. In that time patient scores went down and so did nurse satisfaction. Nobody wins with this.

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Specializes in ACHPN.
You are so right! All they care about is Press Ganey scores and it's killing the staff. Your hospital will probably follow suit eventually, but in the mean time you can build comraderie and focus on the essentials.

My last hospital went a year of hourly rounding and signing a sheet attesting to having done your rounding. In that time patient scores went down and so did nurse satisfaction. Nobody wins with this.

We have been doing hourly rounding for about 6 months. It is such a joke. One extra piece of paper to sign every hour. Half the time, I am too busy to sign them. Luckily it hasn't been an issue yet. Our pt satisfaction scores are so variable. One month we are at 95%, the next month we are at 77%. Well, take a closer look at the reports. Our Press Ganey surveys go out to 75% of the patient population. I work in a 25 bed unit, census runs at about 90%. February's numbers are based on a maximum response rate of 21. So 21 people out of hundreds respond to these surveys, and the world has to change because of them! It blows my mind.

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Specializes in PACU, ICU.

I will second the scores getting crazy attention, esp now that it is a funding thing. As in the other post Was has been up more recently where I was frustrated, I feel it gets to the point where it doesnt matter if safety is compromised as long as the patient will mark good things on their survey.

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Specializes in Administrator inspired by nurses.

FancyPants - You make an excellent point that I, as a hospital CEO who has served at two hospitals, have long held. Satisfied patients are a direct result of satisfied associates. The path to high HCAP scores is an engaed workforce who feel empowered to manage their own morale. Easy to say, hard to do. Great workplace culture has to be driven from the bottom up, not the top down - which doesn't work. Nurses are smart and are the kings and queens of work-around when an administrator comes up with poor solution to a problem - like improving HCAP scores. The secret to creating great workplace culture, I have learned, is rather than telling associates what I can do to improve their satisfaction, I ask them - and they I try, as much as possible, to do what they ask. Sounds like you have smart leader at your hospital.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

It is great to hear that there is actually a hospital that a nurse can truly say she enjoys working at. Would you mind sharing the name of this hospital?

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