I am always gracious and try to accomodate reasonable patient/family requests, but my name tag yesterday must have read 'Handmaid' instead of RN. I was instructed (not asked) by several different patients/family members the following:
"Go get us about eight or ten chairs so everybody can sit down in here."
"The baby's father hasn't had anything to eat today, can you make him something?" (This was 1930 and FOB who missed the 0915 delivery had just shown up).
"Can't you get the kids sandwiches?" (I was happy to bring graham crackers and juice, but was met with "Well, that's not enough for dinner.")
"I can't use a taxi voucher because that way I have to go right home. Don't you have a petty cash fund? I need to stop at my friend's house and the store first."
"My boyfriend wants a set of the baby's footprints, a copy of the baby's picture, and that test to make sure he's the father."
This, of course, all in addition to the usual "The baby's diaper needs to be changed," "Bring me another Percocet. Somebody here (a visitor, not the patient) has a headache," "Take his (another visitor's) blood pressure," and "He needs some scrubs to wear."
Sorry for the rant. Yesterday was a long 14-hour day and I just needed to get it out. :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire
The original post is one of the reasons I will NEVER do post-partum care. Hospitals and birth classes give the parents the impression that the post-partum unit is like a spa. I think it would be more appropriate for the birth classes to include, "This is not a hotel. Your nurse is not a waitress."
Oldiebutgoodie
Yes, part of the problem is that a "hotel" atmosphere is promoted by the "higher ups." And that leaves us with the fallout from people with unrealistic requests, like they were staying at the Ritz-Carlton.
One of our local hospitals advertises itself as the "Stork Resort." It just encourages this type of behavior from patients and families who take the advertising slogan literally.
I agree with one of Jnette's suggestions a while back. Have greeters like they do at Wal-Mart with "How Can I Help You?" Have the patients/visitors chase them down and leave the nurses to do their jobs - caring for patients and their physical needs, not whimsical "wants."
Yes, part of the problem is that a "hotel" atmosphere is promoted by the "higher ups." And that leaves us with the fallout from people with unrealistic requests, like they were staying at the Ritz-Carlton.
One of our local hospitals advertises itself as the "Stork Resort." It just encourages this type of behavior from patients and families who take the advertising slogan literally.
I agree with one of Jnette's suggestions a while back. Have greeters like they do at Wal-Mart with "How Can I Help You?" Have the patients/visitors chase them down and leave the nurses to do their jobs - caring for patients and their physical needs, not whimsical "wants."
And you know, this is FINE... if the hospital wants to be the "Stork Resort", that is fine with me ! It's their hospital.. htey can make it whatever they want. Just make sure they provide the APPROPRIATE "resort staff" to cater to all their desires.
The nurse pushes the medication cart... NOT the Tea and Crumpets cart.
I have no problem with any of it as long as the job doesn't fall on the nurses.
It is NOT the nurses' responsibility.. God knows we have enough already, and far more pressing ones.
Jnette, you're exactly right. If they want to have a resort atmosphere to attract more patients/revenue, I'm all for it. But have the appropriate staff to deal with appropriate matters.
Are you having problems with your Foley? Is your IV site stinging and/or swelling? Call your nurse.
Want some hot coffee? Want someone to run over to the cafeteria and get you a sandwich? Call your "patient services rep". (Refering to the type of person at Wal-Mart who answers questions).
Seriously, if they want this they need to provide the people who can do these things without getting in the way of nursing care. It should be printed in the patient brochure, "Do you want a sandwich, cup of coffee, call ext. XXX and a patient rep will help you."
But, it would make too much sense and cost the hospital more money to hire such a staff.
I've only been a nurse for 2 years and had 2 managers. The first one catered ONLY to the pt's and family reguardles. She'd reflect EVERY concern i had back onto me as a way not to deal with something. While I never had this exact scenario she would allways not support the nurse it allways seemed to favor the family which to an extent needs to be but not frivious garbage. The new manager seems to look at all aspects and will state you should have talked more politely to a pt whatever and throw out frivilous garbage. Meaning I felt the first manager held everything against us. The second will look at it in all directions which makes a better manager. So I guess it all depends who's in charge. However if upper management tries to enforce these things I'm scared!
It would be so stressful to work in a hospital where the manager only caters to the patient and family needs. Were the managers never nurses themselves?
The customer service rep idea is a great one- I guess what's frustrating about these non care-related insane requests is that it takes time away from providing appropriate medical care to our patients. And I know that birth centers are the units where hospitals compete for business, but administration has just gone too far in making our units seem like a resort. The hospital down the street has around-the-clock free valet parking, forgodsakes.
Nursing as a profession has come so far- but the public is ages behind in catching up to what our scope encompasses. Thanks for your wisdom, and keep it coming!
Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.
do you really think, though, that patients would be satisfied with having a "customer service rep" cater to their needs?
while many probably would be, there will still be patients that insist that it be their nurse that brings them their coffee, etc; and will complain to admin if the nurse delegates it to the customer service rep.
I used to work in the service industry (you can semantically argue, I still do) and some places went out of business because bad customer service. But has anyone ever heard of a hospital going out of business because of bad customer service. Other than the obvious: high mortality rate, poor physician ratings....etc.... I say: let them eat cake.
I work in the CCU and won't let anyone get in the way of proper patient care. Family or not.
we are caring for an increasingly "entitled" population of people who are not afraid to push the envelope w/us. I am afraid this is all over----not just nursing but in the service industry (and they do think of us as customer servants, why not, that is what hospitals push).
I like Betsy's responses. They mirror my own. Now more than ever, we need assertiveness books/training. Learning to deal with these unreasonable requests assertively and professionally is key-----and it does help ward off additional unsuitable requests from the same people.
Remember: Set the precedent and it follows. I hate following nurses who kissed their butts the whole shift, unreasonably and unfairly-----bad set up for me for my shift. Remember the nurse coming after you when you respond to these people. You are setting the tone. If you are unsure what to do, I can recommend several good books on assertive responses.
Absolutely!!!
We had a situation recently where the "boyfreind" claimed to be an RN (sorry been posting here too long I don't believe you are an RN until I see that registration certificate) and wanted to take over the cares to the point of silencing ventilator alarms!!! He was very, very lucky that he did NOT try that with me around as I am extremely defensive about my alarms - I won't let co-workers silence them unless I know what the alarm was about!! Trouble was one person said yes they could stay the night and set up a bad situation for the next shift. This family was also one of those that played one shift off against the other. Mutter,mutter, snark to all those fellow nurses who suddenly decide that they are fireproof as visitors and insist on reading patient charts etc.
One thing I find works really really well is to take the "moral high ground" very early on and put them back at a disadvantage. "Excuse me, but I think you will find your reqests will be better recieved if, you include a please and a thank-you. However I am sorry but I can not fulfil your request at present as I have more pressing NURSING duties and sick patients who require my time."
Remember NO nurse manager/patient advocate is going to tell you to put visitor requests above patient requirements (that one would have a snawball's chance in hell in a courtroom). So any time you face an NM insisting that you cater to these outlandish whims just mention you are caught up with patient care. Oh! and that one has been used too - ring the nurse manager to come and deal with them herself as you are too busy with a patient:lol:
...yeah, I had a pt. come in at change of shift with 4 offspring. As I went into the room to admit, all 4 startedd complaining of only 2 chairs, one asked when the cot was being delivered, and all four were saying," she's a handfull, you'll have to restrain here, get the haldol". Every time I came in I was assalted with requests or complaints. The cot guy,:I've been here a half hour and I don't have my cot The dr. downstairs assured me I'd get one. When I told him we were trying to locate one, he yelled Do I ahve to go to another floor for a ******** cot? I told him right now his mother was the priority, that unit clerk was trying to locate a cot thru general store and it could be there are none available d/t high census throughout hosp. and that Dr. can't assure furniture.
...then when I came in coz her IV was beeping, he says, here's the nurse, she's gonna tie you to the bed if you don't behave, mother. I said, don't tell her that, you'll scare her and he boomed, don't tell ME how to talk to my mother. I wanted to gag and restrain HIM !!
...I did call the doc and asked him if he was aware of the family dyanamics. When the on call doc came in for rounds in the am I sat down with him and explained what went on. THEN I wrote an incident report so that this family's behavior was on record in case they complained the nurse didn't do anything. Oh, did I mention how they abused my aide?
It would be so stressful to work in a hospital where the manager only caters to the patient and family needs. Were the managers never nurses themselves?
Sadly, there are managers out there who were never real nurses (in the sense of bedside nursing). I can't say I have much respect for that type of manager.
Sadly, I have heard all the things the OP wrote and I work in a NICU!
I always reply to the parent that asks me for a sandwich and juice, "Our babies don't eat those". They then tell me it's for them, not the baby. (no s*#t!) and I tell them, "I know. But we take care of babies here and we don't have those things. Same reply for request for Percocet, Maalox, Tylenol. We don't have 'em, go back to your roon and tell your nurse you have pain.
Sorry your aunt isn't feeling well. The ER is downstaires.
Please don't sleep here. You have to go home and sleep. You are here to see the baby and you can't do that with your eyes closed and we need the chair your feet are on for other parents.
Mutter,mutter, snark to all those fellow nurses who suddenly decide that they are fireproof as visitors and insist on reading patient charts etc.
BabyRN2Be
1,987 Posts
Yes, part of the problem is that a "hotel" atmosphere is promoted by the "higher ups." And that leaves us with the fallout from people with unrealistic requests, like they were staying at the Ritz-Carlton.
One of our local hospitals advertises itself as the "Stork Resort." It just encourages this type of behavior from patients and families who take the advertising slogan literally.
I agree with one of Jnette's suggestions a while back. Have greeters like they do at Wal-Mart with "How Can I Help You?" Have the patients/visitors chase them down and leave the nurses to do their jobs - caring for patients and their physical needs, not whimsical "wants."