Patient complaints

[am4182]

I am not sure if this is unusal but it seems that in the hospital I work at I have had more patient complaints then I ever had before. The latest was a person who complained of SOB, tingling and a feeling of chest pressure. I checked vital they were ok, (unmonitored floor), I continued to monitor the patient and then called the doctor. The MD had me call the hospitalist. They came to see pt. ordered, chest x-ray, ct, blood gases, more blood work, ekg.

Everything was negative. However in the morning a second troponin was slightly elevtaed. An EMT with the family began telling them if the nurse, hospital knew what they were doing they would have known it was an MI?? I spoke to the MD later she said the only basis for considering this an MI was the troponin, no other test exam backed this up.

A complaint was made to the nurse manager stating I did nothing for the pt. Xrays, ct, abg, ekg etc. doesn't strike me as nothing. However the hospital chooses not to back staff rather tell the family that they will need to talk to the nurse. A second complaint was that the pt felt they didn't get adequate care at night, nothing specific, they never named a nurse but the nurse manager decided that since I had cared for her one day I must be the guilty party. I am a relatively new nurse and new to this floor, are these types of problems common at all hospitals? I alway thought I got along well with patients... I'm not sure anymore.

[Mulan]

I work on a ward that is an old nightingale ward. We have 15 beds down the left hand side of the ward and 15 beds down the right side. Basically you can see all 30 patients at the same time.

There was a cardiac arrest around 11PM once. It was sudden and unexpected. Patient was to be discharged the following morning. The curtains were drawn around the patient but it would have been pretty obvious to the other patients what was going on.

The patient in the bed across from the code wrote letters of complaint about how "traumatic" it was for her to have to listen to all the noise and commotion at that time of night. She wrote her doctor and asked him to deal with "his nurses" and said that it was "disgusting" that we allowed this (a cardiac arrest) to happen on the ward because it was very disturbing for her. She placed direct blame on the nurses for this. ***? We would like a new ward with private rooms as well!!

I know that the lack of privacy on the nightingale wards sucks for everyone but what could we have done?

The doctor and the complaints department basically told her to p*ss off. They told us not to worry about her.

It is still very hurtful that patients often seem to want to lash out and hurt at the people who are trying to help.

Good thing they told her to p*ss off, as they should have. In this country, they probably would have fired all the nurses, (for poor customer service/satisfaction).

:roll

[Antikigirl, ASN, RN]

Oh my I have had this happen too! It was on a floor with private rooms, but the walls are thin...and this little old lady was ticked and complaining about a man in the next room coding and how loud it was with all the people around trying to save him...she wanted it quiet. She advised taking the pt out of the room and taking him to the ER or something so you don't disturb the other pts! Ohhhhh okay will get right on that...*&* &@*&^!

I told her to thank her lucky stars it wasn't her, and that if it was ever her...we wouldn't waste time transfering her onto a gurney and waiting till the elevator came up...waiting for it to go down...waiting for a room before we started to save her! That I would do whatever it took right then and there to save her, and I do that for everyone because that is my job and my personal pledge! That seconds count...and all that talking was part of the job so that people knew when to clear, or what meds were given (for safety), and to organize all the people to what tasks needed to be done...and even to replace a tired person doing CPR!

She got it...and didn't complain to management like she was going to. I did it very sweetly...and I think that made the difference. And I found out she was not just complaining, but it reminded her of her own mortality and that people die in hospitals and frankly...she was just scared.

BUT GRRRRRRRr to the folks that actually complain about that...you would think they were in a hospital or something! SHEESH!!!!!!!

[banditrn]

Where I work, there are usually 3 techs on the unit, but there are 2 separate wings that are separated by a little lobby area and the elevators. That means that someone has to be "split" between the two sides, and you can bet that that person is never on the side where they are needed. It's not their fault, it's just that they can't be in 2 places at once. I know, they used to ALWAYS put me on the split when I was a tech. Anyway, one day (when I was a tech), I had been stuck on one side for most of the morning. I finally went over the other side to a pt who didn't need complete care, but she wanted it. All she did the entire time that I was bathing her, powdering her, washing her hair (yes, I did!) and basically catering to her every whim, she was berating me. She was saying things like "the help around here is terrible, you people don't even deserve to have jobs", and "this is the worst service I have ever had, how dare you wait so long to take care of me?" (it was probably about 10:30am), etc. I was almost in tears, and I am not a crier at all. But do you know what I did? I let it go! I would NEVER do that now! I would (and have) put people in their place, but I guess I was too meek back then or something. I didn't even tell my boss, and I know for darn sure that she would not allow that kind of behavior. You just can't make some people happy, but that is no reason that you should be fearing for your license or your finances. It's a...I think the term is "stinging injustice" to have people who have no idea what we actually do treat us as their slaves.

miko - I believe in charting behaviors like that, and that would have rated an entry in the nurses notes about the patient berating the staff during cares - then I would have kindly talked to her, and explained how MANY patients we all had to care for. I will not let patients or residents treats the Aides I work with like that.

[Gromit]

In my opinion, usually when patients start acting like that, I figure they are "too well for OUR floor" and should be moved or discharged :)

We have a term we use (amongst ourselves, and out of earshot) for demanding, whining patients, but its not very politically correct, and well, not really suitable (not dirty, just not very suitable for these boards).

[nurse10000]

Make sure you document your actions and recollections in case you need it later. In most pt complaints, the hospital will back themselves. Sounds like you did fine. I would talk to my nurse manager and ask what their concerns are and what you can do, if anything, to allay them. Maybe they just have a problem with you?

Please document this. You never know if it'll come back and bite you.

Your nurse manager will support you.

But like augigigiigi, sounds like you did fine. I did get in trouble big time once, and learned to document fast and accurately.

nurse1000

[purplemania, BSN, RN]

EMT's can be real smart mouths sometimes so blow off what that one said. The comment is a sign of ignorance (of how to be CARING, for one thing. A remark like that makes the whole facility look bad).

I too recommend you talk to manager. But don't be defensive. State you have the impression ---- whatever. Don't say I get the feeling you are picking on me or nobody likes me. That is unprofessional. Try to get to the bottom of it early and let the manager know you are open for advice. Good luck!!

[Sheri257]

Oh yeah...and that whole call bell thing and complaints...I never tell a patient that I have other pts or I was working on a serious probelm...that makes many of them feel they aren't important to the nurses, and we all know that patients do feel they are the only patient...so I simply say...

"I was unavoidingly detained, my appologies for your wait...".

But we DO have other patients, and this is what drives me insane.

I spent practically the entire morning on this one patient who was riding the call light like crazy. If that doesn't make her feel important, I don't know what will.

But in the afternoon I had one patient go brady and another who's blood sugar skyrocketed to 480.

Yet ... there she is riding the call light because she can't remember I just gave her the pain med 10 minutes ago when another pain med isn't due for two hours. I don't know how many times I explained I can't give the med any more than what the doc prescribes.

And this hospital has call lights that go ding, ding, ding on the floor until somebody answers them so ... talk about driving you crazy!

:typing

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

I agree make sure your documentation reflects your actions and dont feel you were the only one that heard about the complaint about night care. Its likely that some others were called in and it was discussed with them too, they just dont want to admit it.

[nurse10000]

Purplemania is right. Don't appear defensive or even worried. Just ask if you think it needs documentation and what you need to record. Be cool about the whole thing, but just do it!

nurse10000