You really have my sympathy- we need to educate patients & visitors about the realities of hospital life! Of course, that means more work for nurses, as other unmentioned staff still think it is not their role to educate anyone at all! At our hospital I have just trialled a variation on the Speak Up campaign to try to educate people on the topic of "hospital as your friend when you're REALLY in need" , rather than "public facility that should cater to my every whim because I've paid my taxes"!! The patients and visitors I have spoken to seemed to take to the idea quite well, but everyone seems to need an individually relevant message. I'm trying to get the ward nurses to make helpful comments regularly, but it seems a bit too much for most of them- already too many responsibilities. I don't suppose hospitals are going to pay for a "Patient Educator" out of their meagre funding! You guys in the private sector might give it a go, though!
From an Aussie Researcher.
Quote from daisybaby
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
You really have my sympathy- we need to educate patients & visitors about the realities of hospital life! Of course, that means more work for nurses, as other unmentioned staff still think it is not their role to educate anyone at all! At our hospital I have just trialled a variation on the Speak Up campaign to try to educate people on the topic of "hospital as your friend when you're REALLY in need" , rather than "public facility that should cater to my every whim because I've paid my taxes"!! The patients and visitors I have spoken to seemed to take to the idea quite well, but everyone seems to need an individually relevant message. I'm trying to get the ward nurses to make helpful comments regularly, but it seems a bit too much for most of them- already too many responsibilities. I don't suppose hospitals are going to pay for a "Patient Educator" out of their meagre funding! You guys in the private sector might give it a go, though!
From an Aussie Researcher.