Seriously? A hospital is NOT a hotel.

Nurses Relations

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So I work on a surgical oncology floor. We generally don't get medicine patients unless all the medicine floors are full. Last night we get a call that we're getting a patient...we're confused, because our floor was pretty empty, but so were all the other floors. This woman and her friend show up, SUPER LOUD at 3am, rowdy, laughing, talking, waking the other patients up. We find out that they were on a medicine floor but they weren't in a private room, and they made a big deal about it (although come to think of it, I do feel bad for whoever their roommate was) and complained that they wanted a private room so the AOD put them on our floor.

Really? I mean, I know they do customer satisfaction surveys now, but that seems a little ridiculous to me. And then to make things even more awesome, her nurse thought that the patient was pretending to take her pain meds but slipping them to her friend...AFTER they had been in her mouth and she acted like she swallowed them. What can you do about that, (without offending an already loud and entitled-acting patient) short of "lift up your tongue, say AHHH, let me make sure you swallowed your pills"? Sigh. My floor can be busy and hectic but our patients are generally a great bunch of people and it makes me happy that I don't have to deal with patients like this on a daily basis.

I would ask the patient to open their mouth so I can check.

I do it all the time and I am long past worrying about offending anyone.

What are they going to complain about?

Me doing my job?

It sucks they got their private room but what a blessing to her former room mate.

Specializes in Hospice.

I work in an LTC and our administrator actually told us that we should be comparable to the Hilton or another nice hotel. I'm sitting there thinking "Seriously? I've never been to a hotel where the staff got me up and dressed in the morning, cleaned me up when I went to the bathroom, helped feed me, brushed my teeth, showered me, did my hair, took me to activities, managed my medication, moniotored my health, etc." Yes, someone is paying for these folks to be here and they need to be cared for, but in no way is this a hotel, nor should it be compared to one.

Seriously,,,, they are being modeled after a hotel. I worked in a facility that delivered newspapers and fresh flowers daily.

The "customers" receive an amenities bag, (not your standard throw one of everything in the basin) and a white fluffy robe.

The rooms (all private) were beautifully remodeled with large screen TV's and room service.

Of course, on afternoon shift, after room service was gone, I was expected to make tea and toast,etc.

Shoulda worn a maid's outfit instead of my scrubs;)

Specializes in LTC.

I don't see anything with giving a private room as requested-- on the appropriate floor. I think what's bothersome about this is that the obnoxious patient was moved to a floor that she didn't even belong on.

Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.
seriously,,,, they are being modeled after a hotel. i worked in a facility that delivered newspapers and fresh flowers daily.

the "customers" receive an amenities bag, (not your standard throw one of everything in the basin) and a white fluffy robe.

the rooms (all private) were beautifully remodeled with large screen tv's and room service.

of course, on afternoon shift, after room service was gone, i was expected to make tea and toast,etc.

shoulda worn a maid's outfit instead of my scrubs;)

hmmm you have just described the facility where i work... i wonder if you're a colleague of mine :cool:

Unfortunately, I'm not. I was dumb enough to come home from my Hawaii assignment;)

Specializes in PCCN.

very simple- squeaky wheel gets the oil. It's only a matter of time when more "patients" realize" hey i ***** loud, i get my way". And usually then some. Hospitals are hotels , as that's what the CEO's tout them as being..

Specializes in ICU.

I don't mind bringing extra blankets or snacks, but what I do mind is the visitors who bring several little children with them. They let the kids run up and down the halls, cry loudly, demand ice cream, etc., for the kids. Wake everybody up. Or the visitors who expect a "guest tray." Then when the customer satisfaction survey comes in, they claim the "hospital staff wasn't quiet" instead of the truth~ that the visitors weren't quiet. And we can't say a word about it. We don't restrict visitation "after hours," and I can't believe the people who will camp out in a patient's room with several small kids until midnight. The children get tired, hungry and sleepy. I was reading here where some facilities won't let the nurses split pills; well they have dumbed down the nursing profession so much, that basically all we are is hand-maids.

Specializes in CNA, Nursing Student.
I don't mind bringing extra blankets or snacks, but what I do mind is the visitors who bring several little children with them. They let the kids run up and down the halls, cry loudly, demand ice cream, etc., for the kids. Wake everybody up. Or the visitors who expect a "guest tray." Then when the customer satisfaction survey comes in, they claim the "hospital staff wasn't quiet" instead of the truth~ that the visitors weren't quiet. And we can't say a word about it. We don't restrict visitation "after hours," and I can't believe the people who will camp out in a patient's room with several small kids until midnight. The children get tired, hungry and sleepy. I was reading here where some facilities won't let the nurses split pills; well they have dumbed down the nursing profession so much, that basically all we are is hand-maids.

I once had a family like that. With small children running around despite the rules that they were not permitted on the floor for infection control reasons...only to have one child nearly enter a room under airborne precautions because their parents were nowhere to be found.

Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

In a previous job I had we had no policy regarding children. One day there was a little kid running riot all over the unit. The mother refused to rein him in. Well, don't you know, the kid tripped over something and went splat! I'm not ashamed to admit that there was a round of applause coming from the nurse's station...even some of the docs were clapping.

Specializes in nursing education.

We have a patient that doesn't feel like she should have to pay anything for her medical care whatsoever or take medications for her condition, and then she goes to the ER. A lot. One time she came to us (PCP) and complained that the last time she went to the ER, they weren't nice to her.

Well, the ER staff isn't there to be nice. They are there to save your life. And no, a college-age person who simply allows her blood sugar to be 400 on a regular basis and then every few weeks decides to get an IV and some insulin, just really doesn't want her life to be saved, or need a dose of "nice."

The inherent logic that the hospital is a hotel is just false. The compassion the staff has, is directed toward actually helping people get well. If a snack does that- for instance, if it comes with a dose of prednisone- then it has served its purpose. The snack is not the end in itself. And no, the staff is not "not nice" when they are busy making sure they don't kill someone via med error or miss a crucial part of an assessment.

However, once you're caught up with patient care duties, why not do the extras for your patient?

Based on your name and this comment, I have to wonder if you're still working the floor. Because it's quite rare to be caught up with patient duties. If we have time to be "caught up," management will just up our ratios.

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