has you hospital become an amusement park

[MISTY BODINE]

Does you hospital allow family and visitors to treat you as if you work at an amusement park? Who calls the shots with patient care? If family and visitors are unhappy who is held responsible? Need your feed back.

[MikeyJ, RN]

My hospital is fairly good about backing up their staff. However, I was working with a nurse one day and she had a drug-seeking patient who was there for a legitimate cause (reverse colostomy). The patient was on PCA dilaudid, PRN morphine, and fentanyl patch. The patient complained so much to administration about his pain levels that the doctor finally increased his PCA and increased his PRN morphine.

The nurse I was working with refused to give him his PRN morphine because he had altered LOC and respirations of like 12 or 13. His wife called administration and the director actually came down and demanded that the nurse give him his PRN morphine so he would quit complaining!

[StNeotser, ASN, RN]

I think so. Over the weekend I had a patient who self caths, but wants a nurse in the bathroom when he does it. He's 90 years old and spends 45 minutes doing this, three times in a day. The family was in the room constantly. When I asked if they could clear the room so I could do his dressing change, four family members moved out, two however remained and would not leave. One was the wife, who wanted to see if I knew what I was doing, the other was his grand daughter who is a nursing student. This man was totally A&O x 3.

I was absolutely furious because on admission he was told by some idiot that we would always have the time to stand about in the bathroom with him for 45 minutes. That idiot doesn't hold a nursing license, obviously.

[RNperdiem, RN]

It depends on what you define as out of bounds.

In an area like SICU, patients are not there because they choose to be there. "Thank you for choosing X Hospital for your motorcycle accident". Patients are mostly unconscious and visitors cannot stay all day and night to treat you like you work at an amusement park.

The doctors and nurses run the show. We are liberal with visitors hours, but limits are enforced.

[jessiern, BSN, RN]

My hospital is fairly good about backing up their staff. However, I was working with a nurse one day and she had a drug-seeking patient who was there for a legitimate cause (reverse colostomy). The patient was on PCA dilaudid, PRN morphine, and fentanyl patch. The patient complained so much to administration about his pain levels that the doctor finally increased his PCA and increased his PRN morphine.

The nurse I was working with refused to give him his PRN morphine because he had altered LOC and respirations of like 12 or 13. His wife called administration and the director actually came down and demanded that the nurse give him his PRN morphine so he would quit complaining!

I had a doctor demand I medicate a patient with morphine. Decreased LOC, and resp of 10. So I drew up the med, in her presence, and handed it too her. Told her if she felt comfortable with that, to go ahead and give it, but I did not feel safe giving it. She decided to march back and tell the patient to "deal with it".

[miko014]

Yeah, they pretty much let patients and visitors do whatever they want until it gets REALLY bad, and even then, they don't do much. People walk all over us like we are made of Pergo, and management could care less, as long as all the Press Ganeys come back with 5s. Makes me sick, and will ultimately be the reason that I leave. I'm not there yet, but I'm getting closer and closer...not sure how much more I can take! I'm tired of getting yelled at every day!

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

this is pretty much the way it is all over these days, ever since we stopped doing "patient care" and our patients became "clients." press-gainey rules, and it's all about high scores; nevermind that some patients and families wouldn't be happy if jesus himself came down and took care of them! at the same time, families have become more suit-happy and "safety" has become a new buzzword. sometimes customer service needs to take a back seat to safety, but good luck explaining that one to a nurse manager who has been away from the bedside since the dawn of press-gainey!

if i sound frustrated, it's because i've just spent an hour on the phone talking to my sister, a nursing administrator (gucci nurse) at a large hmo chain in california. for her, it's all about those press-gainey scores -- she hasn't been at the bedside in a quarter of a century!

[thefrayh2sal]

Can't say I'd call it an Amusement Park, but I'd say a customer service center! Bust your backside trying to do the best for your patient and their families while giving care you want to give and the "Satisfaction" scores never seem to make management happy. Isn't it true that the ones that don't get exactly what they want (Like let's say a completely pain free birth-HELLO>>>) will complain that the nurse didn't give them what htye expected. I think the public has some incredably high desires when it comes to health care, and our administration want to do what ever they can to make their desires come true. I went to school to be a nurse, and I think I'm a very good nurse. Thankfully I was also a server in a high demanding resturant and know how to carry 3-4 drinks in one hand... Glad it's not just my hospital!