Is this unusual?

[Spritenurse1210, BSN, RN]

At my hospital the following changes have been made:

Nurses are to do report on patients at the bedside, and use "key words" such as "Thank you for letting me take care of you, We want to make sure you are satisfied with your care ect.

The docs have been complaining that the nurses are calling too much. We are only to call on the even hours (at night only by the way) for non emergent issues such as critical lab results, blood sugars ect.

Is it like this anywhere else?

[BluegrassRN]

What the eff?

I hope this is unusual, particularly with regards to the second request. This is how I would handle this: "I'm sorry, Mrs. Smith, that your pain medication isn't sufficient/you need a sleeping pill/mylanta/stool softener. Unfortunately our administration only allows us to call the physicians on the hour every two hours. You'll have to wait one hour and 40 minutes before I am allowed to call. If you feel this is poor care, here are the phone numbers of my unit director and our hospital CEO, and you are welcome to call them at *any time* to discuss this. Shall I dial the number for you?"

And I would start looking for another job, in a hospital that doesn't think it's a kindergarten.

[mappers]

The first thing? No. Unfortunately "key messaging" was a big thing at my hospital too..."I have the time" anyone?

The second thing? Bizarre....

[netglow, ASN, RN]

YUCK.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Scripting .... hate it.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I don't know, I think it's kind of nice. I remember one facility I worked at, if a visitor asked you for directions to something, you weren't supposed to give them directions, you were supposed to take them there. Even though it would sometimes burn 3 minutes I didn't have to burn, it was nice to make that concerted effort to be "customer service focused."

I wouldn't want to have to say the exact words required (especially because it would seem awfully disingenuous to the patient to hear four nurses in a row say the exact same thing) but I think the idea behind it is nice.

And my current facility is going to bedside report as of 11/1. Lots of studies have been done about it, and how it enhances patient satisfaction and making the patient feel like s/he is more involved in his/her care.

[SnowboardLovinRN]

Its all for state surveys of satisfaction. They want you to use those key words so that patients recognize them when they are filling out the surveys after their hospital stay. Unfortunately I'm sure its common, the hospital where I work is pushing it as well.

Docs will always complain that nurses call too much... its just a fact of life!

[wound warrier]

Unfortunately nurses have become actors as there are too many scripts for us to read/say to the patient - oops, customer. I have a hard time with this, as I would rather speak from my heart and not a script. But hospitals are doing whatever it takes to get the patient - oops, customer - into the facility. It all boils down to the almighty dollar.

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

At my hospital the following changes have been made:

The docs have been complaining that the nurses are calling too much. We are only to call on the even hours (at night only by the way) for non emergent issues such as critical lab results, blood sugars ect.

Is it like this anywhere else?

Oh no, F no!! If I have a critical lab to report, you can bet I'm calling you ASAP to report it. I don't care if I'm waking someone up or if I've already called x amount of times.

I thought lab reporting/charting of critical values was something JACHO monitored. I'd be interested to see how they would react to this.

[ebear, BSN, RN]

I HATE scripting! BluegrassRN, I love your response! Hospital adm. is clueless...If I have a critical lab or anything else urgent, I'm calling the doctor's behind, I don't care WHAT freakin' time it is!

[klone, MSN, RN]

The docs have been complaining that the nurses are calling too much. We are only to call on the even hours (at night only by the way) for non emergent issues such as critical lab results, blood sugars ect.

Ask yourself this - would it hold up in court?

If an attorney is cross-examining you, and asked you why you waited 90 minutes before calling the doctor about a critical value, what would you say? "I didn't want to make the doctor mad" probably wouldn't hold up very well.

[Up2nogood RN, RN]

We haven't been buggered about scripting for about 4 yrs. We had all types of hoops (scripting, bedside report, customer satisfaction, hourly rounding with intent) to jump thru when applying for magnet status. Management has calmed WAY down and left us alone with all that junk. I guess press ganey scores must be meeting their satisfaction.

I do go out of my way for most pts because it is nice and the right thing to do (in my book) and I genuinely care about others so I don't think it's entirely a bad idea. But that's just my $ .02.