Patient or Client?

I've yet to meet a real-life nurse who refers to her pts. as clients. I will always call patients, patients.

I've yet to meet a real-life nurse who refers to her pts. as clients. I will always call patients, patients.

i know a nurse who works in home health that calls her patients clients.

when we lived in NC, we hung out alot... i used to get such a kick out of texting her, she would write stuff like "at my client's house" or "making my client's bed".

In our school they are saying clients, well they are supposed to, the teachers often forget and say patient and then will correct themselves as how they are now told to say client.

My patients are my patients. The term client is used for customer service industries. I am a nurse, not a customer service agent.

patients

Some facilities in my area switched from "client" to "consumer" (some of them consume allright ). I can't help but wonder if this is how PR justifies their budget.

All my books in nursing school said "client". It's patient and I'll never change that.

I absolutely refuse to use the work client. I am an old nurse. I never have and never will call a patient a client. It sounds stupid.

We are being told that client is a more "PC" term to use. This is because of the shift to viewing the patient as a customer/consumer and the care we provide is customer service. Our instructors just tell us to call them either one. Client, customer, consumer - it all sounds so robotic and cold to me. We're supposed to provide holistic, individualized care after all!

:loveya:

whether i say "patient"

or "client"

the human being

will receive the same

kind, considerate and nurturing care.

"treat one as you'd like to be treated.":d

works for me.

I am in nursing school now, and all our professors are stressing that we use client. However, I can't help but to still use patient. Client just isnt the same... it just reminds me how much hospitals are just like businesses.

Nursing is service-oriented. Nurses are in the service of the sick referred to as the patient. Consumers who avail of services are called clients. Therefore, a patient can also be referred to as a client.

A sick person needing nursing/medical care is a patient.

Nurses do not just cater to sick people but to their families as well. Nurses also do health teachings and other services to well, healthy people. These people are the clients.

That's what I learned in nursing school.

But experience taught me that whatever you call your patients/clients, how you are to them as their nurse and how you put pride and dignity to your profession make all the difference.