It only takes a few extra seconds....

Good Morning, Gil · Apr 28, 2012

Sounds like the implication is that the majority of nurses don't take the extra few seconds to smile or treat their patients like human beings. I can't speak for everyone on here, but I know many nurses that go the extra mile for patients, including me. I don't deny that your customer service background may help you, but patients are still not customers. Technically, I guess they can be defined that way since they are purchasing a service, medical care, with their insurance. What does that make the uninsured then? They don't have the ability to purchase medical care lol.

And, I'm not laughing at the uninsured. That's very sad. I'm laughing at the absurdity of "patients" as "customers," though it doesn't surprise me. This lingo has been around for a while, and it's just the whole Press Ganey, patient satisfaction push. I treat my patients very well, and provide high quality care. But, patient care cannot be put on the same level as business. Hospitals need to make money to stay afloat, yes, but patient care is not customer service. Patients should be involved in their care, yes, but I do not get my patient what he wants if it is not safe for him, i.e fresh esophageal varice banding patient wanting peanuts and popcorn, for instance. In a purely customer service atmosphere, you yield to the customer even if it's a ridiculous request since you risk losing your customer. If you yield to a patients' ridiculous request, you risk his life or needed time with another patient. We can agree to disagree, though.

pockunit, ADN, RN · Apr 28, 2012

So it took a preceptorship for you to grasp the golden rule? Better late than never, I guess.

This is not customer service. Customers do not need 15 yards of kerlix stuffed into wounds. Customers ask for extra raNcH DresSing or a larger size in those cute pants.

Having "extensive experience" will serve you well when patients and their families insist on acting as if they are in a 5-star hotel, to be sure, but it is not the basis of good nursing.

mindlor · Apr 28, 2012

Hi Gil....

With respect my friend, perhaps you are reading in to my post a bit.

My true feeling is that most nurses are fantastic. I decided to become a nurse because of fantastic nurses that cared for me.....

I am not saying to run around like a chicken with a cut of head....of course we cannot let a pt dominate our time.

However, we can smile and be pleasant as we push that 15 yards of kerlix into a patients wound rather than curse under our breath and be grouchy yes?

I am saying that I will take the FEW FEW FEW extra moments...

Its the little tiny things that I will do that will make a big difference........

mindlor · Apr 28, 2012

So it took a preceptorship for you to grasp the golden rule? Better late than never, I guess.
This is not customer service. Customers do not need 15 yards of kerlix stuffed into wounds. Customers ask for extra raNcH DresSing or a larger size in those cute pants.
Having "extensive experience" will serve you well when patients and their families insist on acting as if they are in a 5-star hotel, to be sure, but it is not the basis of good nursing.

That patient can get that kerlix stuffed into their wound at a hospital that provides excellent service......for the most part patients have a choice as to where they receive care.......

Would love to hear some thoughts from nurse managers here regarding customer service as it relates to nursing care....

fakebee · Apr 28, 2012

I am pretty sure your preceptor will be posting soon with the same first line you posted...just saying.

psu_213, BSN, RN · Apr 28, 2012

That patient can get that kerlix stuffed into their wound at a hospital that provides excellent service......for the most part patients have a choice as to where they receive care.......
Would love to hear some thoughts from nurse managers here regarding customer service as it relates to nursing care....

There is a huge difference between (a) smiling/therapeutic touch, (b) customer service, and © overstuffing a wound with kerlix.

I am not an NM, but I'm guessing most would say 'why is a budget for supplies, such as kerlix, going up and up' in situation ©. Management loves customer service but not if it is going to cost too much money.

As for situation (a)--I consider this a basic nursing 'duty.' This is fundamental caring, and someone should not need customer service skills to excel in this.

Now (b)...you're working in the hospital. You are caring for pt's and doing what is best for their health. Sometimes the things that have to be done (or not done) have to be the exact opposite of the customer service answer. For example, a pt wants a large meal, but they have to kept NPO. A pt wants more flavor on their food, by they are on a sodium restriction. A pt wants to lay in bed all day, but you have to force them OOB to walk so they don't develop a DVT and don't decondition. These are pretty simple examples, but they show that a nurse's duties cannot always be dictated by customer service.

Unknown member · Apr 28, 2012

Obviously nursing care comes first as the PP explained.... but I agree with the OP that nursing is most definitely related to customer service. In fact, I just recently went on an interview where the NM was extremely impressed with my past jobs because they were customer service jobs. I'm the one who actually said 'Well I know these aren't related to nursing but I did learn XYZ about customer service.' She stopped me and said NO These ARE related to nursing because of the customer service. Remember patient satisfaction scores? Those are customer service surveys where nurses are judged based on the patient's perception of good service. Nursing used to not be this way but it has certainly become this way....

"In a purely customer service atmosphere, you yield to the customer even if it's a ridiculous request since you risk losing your customer. If you yield to a patients' ridiculous request, you risk his life or needed time with another patient."

...This is FAR from the truth. I've had several instances where I had to explain over and over again the policy of the institution and why I couldn't budge on price, service, time, etc. Yes we strive to make the customers happy but we don't adhere to all "ridiculous requests." Price comes to mind the most. Customers complain about price AFTER they have the service done. My last job has NEVER given a customer a discounted price just because they b*tched about it. Just saying.

mindlor · Apr 28, 2012

Hmmmm, just read my horoscope for today....

Interesting....

Not that you would, but with your compelling presence you could start your own cult right now. Instead, dwell in the intersection of fantasy and reality -- and, yes, let people worship you.

psu_213, BSN, RN · Apr 28, 2012

Obviously nursing care comes first as the PP explained.... but I agree with the OP that nursing is most definitely related to customer service. In fact, I just recently went on an interview where the NM was extremely impressed with my past jobs because they were customer service jobs. I'm the one who actually said 'Well I know these aren't related to nursing but I did learn XYZ about customer service.' She stopped me and said NO These ARE related to nursing because of the customer service. Remember patient satisfaction scores? Those are customer service surveys where nurses are judged based on the patient's perception of good service. Nursing used to not be this way but it has certainly become this way....

Every month we get results of our PG scores as well as a verbatim account of all the comments made by our pts. Yes, nurses are being judged by pts. based on the customer service that we provide to them. Here is the problem...they (pts.) proceed under the assumption that the nurse's first duty is to give a pt everything they want at all costs. Comments such as "After I got to the room, I had to wait 15 minutes for the nurse to come in " (uh, yeah, the nurse was in a cardiac arrest....sorry she could not assess you sore throat). "I had to wait over 2 hours before I was given something to drink" (yeah, you had "severe" abdominal pain...you really couldn't have anything to drink until we were sure it was not a surgical belly). "That incompetent nurse didn't draw the right blood tubes and had to stick me again" (well, you did not tell anyone you were taking dig...when we found out you were on dig, we had to draw another tube to make sure you weren't dig toxic).

Anyway, the point of all this...don't say that we have to be focused on customer service just because pts. come up with customer service scores. Just because a nurse did not meet a pts. assumptions of what customer service should be it does not mean that their nurse did not provide excellent care.

mindlor · Apr 28, 2012

Listen PSU, change is coming. It is going to be adapt or die.....

Lets take my dear preceptor for example.

Is she a GREAT NURSE? Yes

Would I want her at my bedside as I circled the drain? YES

However,

Do all her peers detest her? YES

Do all her patients detest her? YES

Will she be employed at her place of employment much longer? No

She runs around the floor like a rabid Rhinocerous and well sorry....

Its not gonna fly anymore.....

Fiona59 · Apr 28, 2012

Thank god I work in a nationalized care system.

My patients like me and have sent in appreciation notes. Does my job depend on this? No. I'm unionized and would pretty much have to forget to code the Prime Minister (not that many would fault me for that).

Our job isn't to keep the patients happy and satisfied. It's to get them healthy enough to move through the system to rehab or home. It isn't in my mandate to find them soft drinks (you want one? find your way to a vending machine with your own loonie), cater to their whims, and make sure they think the hospital is the greatest thing evah. It's their tax dollar paying for their care and most of them realize that fact.