i am in my second week of classroom orientation as a new rn at my local hospital. they are trying to implement a new system or way to improve patient satisfaction. the two things that keep popping up are we are to say:
1. before we leave the patients room: "is there anything else i can do or get for you, i have the time."
2. when they are leaving or being discharged: "thank you for choosing xxx"
i have no problem with number one i do it anyway not the exact phrasing. the second one bugs me. like i am an airline stewardess or something. "thank you for choosing xxx we hope you enjoyed your stay buh bye.":uhoh3:
what are some of the things your institution would like you to implement to improve patient satisfaction?
What part of the country is this in? It sounds totally ridiculous! It's bad enough that the supermarkets are doing this. I just got back from Safeway and a young man in the aisles interupted my thoughts with some scripted offers for help. I told him that if I want help I'll ask. He had a bright orange vest on and was stocking the shelves and was 2 feet away from me, I think I'm intelligent enough to notice him.
I'm on the east coast, but this is nationwide. Bunchacrap....
Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.
you know, for the big $$ that are spent in improving pt satisfaction, all it would take is to add another nurse to the staff.
fewer pts = more time/pt = better nsg care = satisfied pt and nurse.
these mentalities are scary and worrisome.
leslie
exactly.
happy nurses ==> happy patients.
i can't understand why admin can't figure out that crappy staffing is at the root of so many of their problems: unhappy nurses, unhappy patients, unhappy doctors, poor patient outcomes, even some sentinel events.
yet they would rather spend money on silly customer service traing and surveys rather than improve staffing.
do they not understand how silly scripting sounds? do they not realize that we are fibbing when we say "i have the time?" man.....i don't have time to pee, let along get all of your visitors coffee, chairs, and blankets.
The last thing I want to hear about is patient satisfaction. Every unit meeting we hear about our "scores" and how we need to improve them. Everytime I am in one of these meetings, all I "hear" from my mgmt is that we are not doing a good job and blah blah blah. My unit made it in the top 10% one time and that still wasn't enough. I'm so over it! Another month we had a not so good score and the following month was a large improvement (better score). And instead of "job well done team" we hear how we need to do even better. I used to have respect for my manager but it has seriously dwindled...
the bank i go to near my office started doing all this scripted crap and now i refuse to go there unless it's a dire emergency b/c i can't stand it...
i had been debating sending a letter of complaint to their corporate office, now i think i will.... i'm sure it's de-humanizing to their employees and it's patronizing to me
the bank i go to near my office started doing all this scripted crap and now i refuse to go there unless it's a dire emergency b/c i can't stand it...
i had been debating sending a letter of complaint to their corporate office, now i think i will.... i'm sure it's de-humanizing to their employees and it's patronizing to me
I listened in amusement, then annoyance when I called my cable company and the poor woman on the other end of the phone went through a script that lasted, honest to god, talking as fast as she could, three minutes.
After she was done I sat there for a moment in stunned silence, then the words popped out:
"Are you kidding? They make you say ALL that?!! Incredible!"
It must've had some effect, because the next time I called, the "script" was short and to the point.
I know that all of us here are literate, compassionate, and excellent nurses, but the sad fact of the matter is that scripting addresses a larger societal problem:
People are rude and crude nowadays. People no longer have the manners to know how to talk to others, especially to sick people. You wouldn't believe some of the incredibly unprofessional things I've heard nurses and techs say to patients.
So therefore, I'm for scripting. I do not say things word-for-word, and I have never promised "excellent" care. But I do tell patients pretty much the same things about things we must discuss - what to expect from the staff, who does what, etc. I tell patients we're going to do our best to help them get better.
I also figure if they're going to make me say certain things, I'm going to take advantage of it and really teach the patients what my role is. So when we have to write our names on the boards in the patients' rooms, I always erase the generic "nurse" and write my name, and "RN" after it.
So I'll say something like: "Hi, I'm Betty, your RN. I'll be giving you medicine and listening to your heart sounds. I want you to call me if you have any more chest pain or pressure, because there are things we can do to fix the problem.
This is Joe, your Tech, and he'll be checking your blood pressure, helping you to the bathroom, and getting you that extra blanket you need."
I then do a visual teaching of the nurse coming into the room, washing hands, and then I add, "Did you notice that when I came in, I washed my hands? This is for anyone who's going to touch you. Your doctors, nurses, lab techs, anyone. Feel free to ask anyone who is going to touch you to wash their hands. We don't want you to get an infection. Then the person will check your armband, like this. They will tell you what they're going to do. Ask any questions you have and make sure you understand the answers. You then have the right to refuse. We want you to make intelligent decisions about your care."
It took way longer to write that than it does to give the 5 minute spiel, but you get my drift. My goals were to establish to the patient that I am a professional and the tech is an assistant. That docs and lab techs get dirty hands too. That the more informed patients were, the better able to understand their treatment and comply with it.
Whether we use scripts to establish those givens or whether we wing it every time doesn't really matter. The point is to inform and educate the patient, and do it in a polite, respectful, and hopefully engaging manner so that we establish a trusting and therapeutic relationship.
1. before we leave the patients room: "is there anything else i can do or get for you, i have the time."
2. when they are leaving or being discharged: "thank you for choosing xxx"
i have no problem with number one i do it anyway not the exact phrasing. the second one bugs me. like i am an airline stewardess or something. "thank you for choosing xxx we hope you enjoyed your stay buh bye.":uhoh3:
what are some of the things your institution would like you to implement to improve patient satisfaction?
this crap comes straight from press-gainey and has been discussed here before. press-gainey seems to have brain washed management and has made even ex-nurses in management forget what it is like to be a nurse.
on my unit, we have a big problem with #1. first of all, we don't have the time. this statement is so wrong on so many levels i could write pages about it.
we are professionals - we don't need scripts! it is an insult to our intelligence to come out with these scripts :trout: of course we ask the patient what else they need while we're in the room. that's common sense!
we often use #1 to other employees on the phone, or to each other, just to lighten the mood and laugh. (i work nights, don't think i could do this on days)
i never use #2. patients don't really have a choice when they end up in my icu. at times it would be extremely inappropriate to use, (such as in a celestial discharge).
i internally groan in staff meetings when the manager starts showing the press-gainey graphs and saying what we need to do better. i even had to listen how bad the ratings are in other departments. can i help it if the food sucks? how do they expect to get good ratings when the staffing ratios are 8:1 on med/surg and 6:1 on tele? i felt the need to point this out once to management and it fell on deaf ears.
heres the newest from our unit decreasing response time for answering patient call lights. the suggestion: putting a sheet at every patient room for hourly checks and saying to the patient every hour i know your light isn't on but i am just making sure you don't need anything.
heres the newest from our unit decreasing response time for answering patient call lights. the suggestion: putting a sheet at every patient room for hourly checks and saying to the patient every hour i know your light isn't on but i am just making sure you don't need anything.
like we need another form to fill out!
if i were a patient i would find that intrusive and obnoxious.
I'm only a nursing student, but I've been in the bar/restaurant business for several years...also at one point worked as a telemarketer (for my school's alumni fund at least, not selling you long-distance during dinner)...except for the telemarketing job, I have always refuse to use scripts as more than a general guideline, and I have quit every job where management treated staff as if they were running an adult daycare. I read all these threads with such trepidation...I have always hated encountering scripted employees anywhere I go, and it makes no sense in health care. It's one thing to have general guidelines, and to expect nurses to be polite and informative, but "Thank you for choosing XYZ hospital for your gunshot wound care today, please come again" is a little ridiculous. I thought I was going for a second degree so I would finally have a professional job, but maybe not.
heres the newest from our unit decreasing response time for answering patient call lights. the suggestion: putting a sheet at every patient room for hourly checks and saying to the patient every hour i know your light isn't on but i am just making sure you don't need anything.
like we need another form to fill out!
that was used in the last place i worked; also the patient received a sheet telling them that their nurse would make rounds every hour, and it listed everything we'd do for them while in the room.
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nurses, but the sad fact of the matter is that scripting addresses a larger societal problem:
:down::down:press-gainey:down:
EmmaG, RN
2,999 Posts