I'm sorry, but I didn't realize I signed up to please the customer. While the nurses go around reminding the patients this is a hospital, not a hotel, we get notices that we SHOULD make these people feel like they're in a hotel. Or "even if you know they're wrong, you should apologize and let them know that they're right" THIS IS AN ACTUAL MEMO THAT APPEARED IN MY MAILBOX.
... oh but it gets worse.
I got tapped on the shoulder by the "hospital customer service rep" telling me this patient (customer) really really wants a milkshake and would really make her day if she could have a milkshake. And I tell this rep this patient just had a bowel resection yesterday and not only can she NOT have a milkshake, but she probably can't even have water, even ice, for the next couple days. I spend all day listening to this patient whine and complain, and now the hospital has provided her a rep to follow me out in the hallway to whine and complain. And neither of them can admit that although a milkshake would make the patient really happy for about 15 mins, going back to surgery and prolonging the recovery would not. I know there's a lot of things in the medical field that seem downright cruel. But if we go by "the customer is always right" keep the patient/customer happy, there will be consequences.
Should customer service be #1 priority? Or am I just being delusional believing that patient safety is more important than patient satisfaction?
I know when I made the comment about wanting visiting hours, I should clarify, I meant in an adult setting. I don't work Peds, it's a different situation. I'll make one more comment. Most of the family members I've dealt with camping out at the bedside are NOT helpful, in my experience.
ICU, as most intensive care areas, can be very frightening for visitors who haven't seen all the lines patients there have. Usually those units have special waiting areas just outside of them, so family can be close, but not on top of their loved one, When it is explained to visitors that these patients tire easily, and need more rest than usual, they'll stay out of your way. There's also a strictly kept regulation about how many visitors can be there at once (1-2), so visitors understand that they're taking time together away from spouses and other closer family
members, if you tell them that.
Visitors aren't helpful there because of all the technology, but they can have a calming effect on patients when their relationship is good. If they're constantly asking you about everything, that's annoying, so ask them to save up/write down their questions, and every half hour you'll take 5 min. to answer them, if the patient has no immediate needs at that time. That way, the same questions aren't asked over and over. The more you give, the better it gets.
By keeping visitors (for whom the patients allow information to be given), in the information loop; and explaining that occasionally there is a need to move them to other departments (OR, Radiology, etc.) as quickly as possible, there may be time only after that move, to explain why it happened. Remind bthem that they have trusted the physician and the facility to provide the best care, which is your objective too, then more cooperation results.
Quote from Saifudin in Saudi Arabia's post: "Most private hospitals provide beds for a family member and if you want to go 'five star', an attached room. That's for cash payment".
Now there's a country that really knows how to circulate their money!
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
above is all i said. this is one type of pt that bugs me which wants me to see visiting hours back. this opinion does not make me a bad nurse and i am new at the customer service game for sure. i'm not here to fight either, just made an opinion of mine, sorry it upset you enough to give you the need to belittle my skills. i guess once i have "serviced" as many years as you i will be able to tolerate more. i still wish the visiting hours would come back because there are pt families that really hinder my job regardless that for the most part they are good for the healing process...i think that is an o.k. statement for me to say or do you think i should just give up nursing due to my lack of intolerance for certain situations? peace to all.
wanting visiting hours back has very little to do with how long you've been in the business. i've been a nurse for over 30 years; my orientee is a new grad. we'd both love to see visiting hours return to the 10 minutes every other hour it used to be. part of it, perhaps is the inner city hospital where we work with the "colorful" clientele. but part of it is just a change in society in general: people are more rude, more entitiled, more belligerent and less grateful.
there's no excuse for belittling your skills for expressing that opinion; especially on a vent thread.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i know when i made the comment about wanting visiting hours, i should clarify, i meant in an adult setting. i don't work peds, it's a different situation. i'll make one more comment. most of the family members i've dealt with camping out at the bedside are not helpful, in my experience.
maybe it's different in smaller community hospitals, but in my large, inner city referral center hospital, family members camping out at the bedside are not only not helpful, many of them are downright menaces! some of them menace the nursing staff, others of them are detrimental to patient care and some truly colorful individuals manage both at the same time.
i've had family members shooting up the patients, threatening to shoot the patients and more than one attack or attempted attack with a sharp, pointy object. i've had family members threatening the nurse with knives, stealing our wallets, setting attack dogs on the nurse (great security we have here -- they let the dog in!), threatening nurses with guns and a good friend of mine was shot in the ass. (ok, the patient actually shot him, but his rocket scientist of a family member brought in the gun). i've had family members leaving their children with granny in the ccu for granny to watch while they went out and had their fun. (granny was actively infarcting at the time.) i've had agorophobic visitors who won't leave the bedside and require just as much care as the patient. i've had spouses of patients dumped at the bedside by their children because "mom has dementia and i can't watch her, so i'll leave her here with dad and the nurses can watch her". you'd be surprised how often that happens.
there are helpful and supportive family members, but they seem to be the exception rather than the rule -- at least here.
I agree with RubyVee to the tee, hey that rhymes :). I think it goes back to the beginning of this thread. Part of our job is now considered "customer service", and families/friends of the patients feel they should "get their money's worth" out of you. I've actually been told "Hey, I'm paying for this". Well, newsflash, your insurance is paying for it,you pay the premiums, when you shell out the $800,000 to put your 90 year-old grandfather on dialysis, then we can talk. I'm being sarcastic, but the point I'm trying to make is with set rules, it sets boundaries. The families manipulate the staff very well, and it also becomes good nurse/bad nurse. When I tell family members in the ICU that "NO, you cannot have a bucket of KFC on your loved one's bed with MRSA", I'm the bad one because I had the nerve to call them on something totally inappropriate when the last nurse let them get away with it. Although I've never had an attack dog set on me, I work in a large urban teaching hospital and I agree with RubyVee that it's not apples to oranges, some units demand visiting hours. Our hourse are 12-9pm, and I think that's actually pretty lenient, with exceptions made depending on individual needs.
I just wish that visitors would realize that about 9 times out of 10, they are not helping the patient's recovery by their being there 24/7.
I have no problem with the wife who never leaves her husband's bedside because she is a comfort to him. I have no problem with the family member who actually helps take care of the patients. I love it when someone else comes in to help the pt fix his/her hair, or can help the pt to the bathroom and back safely. But filling up the room with noise when it's well past visiting hours and the patient is obviously exhausted, you really need to get out.
maybe it's different in smaller community hospitals, but in my large, inner city referral center hospital, family members camping out at the bedside are not only not helpful, many of them are downright menaces! some of them menace the nursing staff, others of them are detrimental to patient care and some truly colorful individuals manage both at the same time.
i've had family members shooting up the patients, threatening to shoot the patients and more than one attack or attempted attack with a sharp, pointy object. i've had family members threatening the nurse with knives, stealing our wallets, setting attack dogs on the nurse (great security we have here -- they let the dog in!), threatening nurses with guns and a good friend of mine was shot in the ass. (ok, the patient actually shot him, but his rocket scientist of a family member brought in the gun). i've had family members leaving their children with granny in the ccu for granny to watch while they went out and had their fun. (granny was actively infarcting at the time.) i've had agorophobic visitors who won't leave the bedside and require just as much care as the patient. i've had spouses of patients dumped at the bedside by their children because "mom has dementia and i can't watch her, so i'll leave her here with dad and the nurses can watch her". you'd be surprised how often that happens.
there are helpful and supportive family members, but they seem to be the exception rather than the rule -- at least here.
ruby, that sounds like a nightmare. i don't think i would like that very much either. we on occasion have problems with patients family members but we usually deal with them pretty effectively. we can and do bar troublesome individuals from the hospital, but this doesn't have to happen a lot. i have asked people to leave for bringing in cigarettes and causing a commotion or upsetting the patient. we have a rule that only one person can spend the night with the patient and have had to insist people leave. sometimes they aren't happy about it, but it is a firm rule. your situation sounds horrible. what is management thinking?
maybe it's different in smaller community hospitals, but in my large, inner city referral center hospital, family members camping out at the bedside are not only not helpful, many of them are downright menaces! some of them menace the nursing staff, others of them are detrimental to patient care and some truly colorful individuals manage both at the same time.
i work at an 800 + bed level 1 trauma center. we are inner city but draw from 3 states,much of which is rural. the culture is very mixed. we sometimes have gang violence survivors and then security is on high alert. there have been some situations of gang bangers coming in to try to finish the job but this is not too common. generally family members and even friends are much more helpful than not. we can limit numbers who visit during the day time. it is pretty much up to our descretion. we have more trouble with very ill patients insisting on going out to smoke than anything.
I think it is sad that some nurses would place additional distress on the patient and family (by limiting their access to each other) for the nurse's sole benefit. Sure, it might make your job easier not to be tripping over family members, but think about what is best for the patient. Even if the relationships seem dysfunctional to you, the patient is the one who lives with these people, presumably by choice. To disallow them to be with their loved ones in what is probably the most stressful time of their lives is just cruel to me.
I was married very young and we moved from Louisiana to Texas shortly after we married. No family here, just the two of us. My husband became suddenly very ill and had to be hospitalized. He ended up having colon surgery and is fine now, but it was very scary and stressful for us. BTW, this was WAY before I even thought of becoming a nurse (and actually is the main reason I did go that route).
No, he was not in ICU. Simple med/surg, stable the whole time. Yes, I spent the night at the bedside, and as much time during the day as I could. We had never been apart in our marriage and not being from a medical background at that time we were both terrified. Had I been forced to adhere to strict visiting hours, I would have been an absolute WRECK and I know my husband would have as well. The nurses were so sweet to us, even bringing me a sandwich one night when my husband mentioned to them I was racing to get to the hospital before they locked the doors and I hadn't even had time to eat (neither of us asked for this). If I was a burden to them, I feel bad for that but I would not change what I did, as it was best for my husband and myself.
Try having some compassion and putting the focus back on the patient where it belongs, not on the nurse and what is easiest/less stressful for him/her.
I think it's very sad that family members actually hinder their loved ones care by being unreasonably demanding, hostile and a nuisance to staff and other patients.
I think your being overly judgemental. If you actually READ what people here are saying you'll realise that it's NOT about making it easier for just the nurse. Some family members take up way too much of the nurses time. Time that could be spent giving care to other patients.
From what you described it sounds as though when your husband was in hospital that you were one of the 'good ones' in that you weren't being a nuisance. But there are some family members who are obnoxious, loud and make the nurses job harder than what it has to be.
Maybe after gaining some more nursing experience and actually working in the acute care environment you might have a better perspective on where many of us are coming from.
Actually I have worked acute care. I agree that there are some families that are a hinderance to the patient's recovery. But what is being suggested is to reinstate strict visiting hours which I feel is uncalled for. It is punishing all the "good" visitors for the actions of the "bad" ones. If it is the family that is taking up the nurse's time, the nurse needs to set better limits. I absolutely do not think visiting hours are the answer.
lamazeteacher
2,170 Posts
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ICU, as most intensive care areas, can be very frightening for visitors who haven't seen all the lines patients there have. Usually those units have special waiting areas just outside of them, so family can be close, but not on top of their loved one, When it is explained to visitors that these patients tire easily, and need more rest than usual, they'll stay out of your way. There's also a strictly kept regulation about how many visitors can be there at once (1-2), so visitors understand that they're taking time together away from spouses and other closer family
members, if you tell them that.
Visitors aren't helpful there because of all the technology, but they can have a calming effect on patients when their relationship is good. If they're constantly asking you about everything, that's annoying, so ask them to save up/write down their questions, and every half hour you'll take 5 min. to answer them, if the patient has no immediate needs at that time. That way, the same questions aren't asked over and over. The more you give, the better it gets.
By keeping visitors (for whom the patients allow information to be given), in the information loop; and explaining that occasionally there is a need to move them to other departments (OR, Radiology, etc.) as quickly as possible, there may be time only after that move, to explain why it happened. Remind bthem that they have trusted the physician and the facility to provide the best care, which is your objective too, then more cooperation results.