No Complaining Policy

Specialties Home Health

Published

Specializes in COS-C, Risk Management.

At our morning meeting on Friday, the HR director, together with our interim DON, instituted a "no complaining policy." No one in the office is allowed to complain about anything, as managers, we are not to allow our field staff to complain. When it starts, we are to say, "How can I help you with this?" and remind them about the no-complaining policy. I have mixed feelings about this.

While I agree that complaining for the sake of complaining is a drag to everyone, we all have times that we're having a hard day, have dealt with a difficult patient, or have legitimate complaints about our work situation. To ignore the very human need to complain, vent, kvetch, or what-have-you, is counterproductive. The reality of the situation is that in the office we are doing the jobs of three people, working nights and weekends without additional pay, and have legitimate concerns about how the agency is run and our places in it. Our field staff work very hard and deal with some very emotionally draining patients and deserve an opportunity to debrief. Denying them that opportunity forces them (as well as the rest of us) to bottle up the issues facing us, where they will most likely be loosed at an inopportune time.

This owners of this agency have refused to address the multiple issues facing it, while choosing instead to go with a "sweep it under the rug" philosophy. I don't know who came up with the no complaining rule, but my gut feeling is that the marketing director took it to the owners (who are also marketers with no clue about clinical issues) who decided that it would be the thing to make the difference. Let's pretend there's no problems and if you can't be a Stepford Nurse, you can get out. And that was pretty much the jist of Friday's meeting--the "unhappy people" will be unable to deal with such a "happy" environment that they will all just float away.

Is anyone else out there operating under such a policy? If so, how has it affected your morale?

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The no complaining policy does not have to be formal to be in place. Most of the time one encounters it when valid complaints or observations are ignored and the person making the observations is pegged as a troublemaker and treated as such. Happens in many hh agencies, most of the time.

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Specializes in Correctional, QA, Geriatrics.

Good grief! I'm all for positive thinking, trying to find a solution, don't beef if you don't have a solution to offer but to simply say no complaining with the implication of hit the road if you don't want to live in denial is simply silly. NO it's worse than silly. It is downright disrespectful to tell a professional that they can't discuss issues or problems or simply ask for a sympathetic ear on occasion. It is also, sadly, indicative of not seeing the forest for the trees. If folks have that many issues to complain about then most likely there are fundamental flaws in the management of the business.

You have my sympathy. I'm afraid I would have to be taking my non complaining self elsewhere if I was you or working for your company. I'm too old to put up with bs anymore.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I think their policy will backfire if they are trying to prevent the normal venting we do when things get outta control Luckily I've always had a person who lets me run my mouth and at the end I say, "I'm really sorry for dumping on you and it isn't you I'm upset with and it's just the whole thing and -deep breath-" they say, "I know. I understand." I know there really isn't any changing reality, but I feel better when someone lends an ear anyway.

On the other hand there are a few people who whine, moan, groan and kvetch all the time no matter what is going on and nothing is ever OK with those people. With them I think the agency could deal with one on one rather than a blanket "no complaining" policy. That's pretty shortsighted.

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Specializes in COS-C, Risk Management.

After a bit of research, I found the source of this policy. Turns out there's a book The No Complaining Rule and I plunked down my $20 to Barnes and Noble this morning to get the rest of the story (nod to Paul Harvey). As usual, the point of the entire rule was missed and someone took what could definitely be a positive move for our agency and made it an edict, an unfunded mandate. The entire book is based on how to create (not demand) a positive work evironment and it starts by listening to your employees' complaints and fix what genuinely needs fixing. It does not say, "no complaining, ever" as it was presented to us on Friday. When will they ever learn that the keys to success are treating your employees like human beings, promoting education, challenging people to be the best they can be, and honest pay for honest work? I mean really, is it so hard a concept to understand that issuing edicts is simply not the way to gain loyalty and trust? Is it really difficult to accept that nurses might know a little bit of something about nursing and that involving nursing in major decisions might be a good idea?

Honest to G-d, I am not a negative person, but I have found myself to be one of the chronic complainers. Why? Because things rarely get changed for the better. We have employees leaving in droves, we are all doing the jobs of three people, and every time one more little thing is added to the daily to-do list it feels insurmountable. I am almost finished with the book and plan to take it with me tomorrow. I hope that at some point I will have the guts to ask why they didn't bother to follow all the rules inherent in The No Complaining Rule or give us the tools needed to implement it. But now I'm chicken. Wouldn't that be complaining? Can't win for losing.

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Soooo.... what are you complaining about?

:lol2:

(Hahahhahaaaaa, just kidding)

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This owners of this agency have refused to address the multiple issues facing it, while choosing instead to go with a "sweep it under the rug" philosophy. I don't know who came up with the no complaining rule, but my gut feeling is that the marketing director took it to the owners (who are also marketers with no clue about clinical issues) who decided that it would be the thing to make the difference. Let's pretend there's no problems and if you can't be a Stepford Nurse, you can get out. And that was pretty much the jist of Friday's meeting--the "unhappy people" will be unable to deal with such a "happy" environment that they will all just float away.

Is anyone else out there operating under such a policy? If so, how has it affected your morale?

ROTFLMAO

This is quite common in health care situations and more so in home health agencies with doofus owners.

Sorry, can't control myself. A full moon is coming in a couple of days.

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