Patients as customers????

[MJAJKJ]

I am in block 4/4 of nursing school and one of the themes throughout school has been patients being referred to as customers. Some test questions are written to reflect this, and we are told hospital philosophy is beginning to reflect the same. I work in medical records (boring as s***) and the hospital I'm at has endless patient satisfaction polls. I worry about patients starting to feel like customers and they are always right, which of course is not true. I fear that administration will look down on an RN giving a patient morphine despite the "customer" request for diluadid because 8 mg of morphine "just doesnt work for me." We are also taught to be patient advocates, but advocate for their best interest, not their every request. I really believe this is a dangerous position for hospitals and patients/customers alike.

Customers go to Sears.

I'd be interested to hear RN's point of views and if other hospitals are adopting this philosophy.

[Sun0408, ASN, RN]

Yes, you are correct and yes hospitals are heading in that direction if they have not already done so..

It is a fine line that we walk to keep the pts safe as well as happy.. Will I give a DM pt with a FS of 450 a pepsi..NOPE and I stand behind it. Will I help a person do something they can not, absolutly. Will I do a simple task like wipe a behind on a pt that is a walkie talkie and CAN reach it, NOPE.. I am sorry but I am not a slave to a pt. I am there to HELP them get better, advocate for them and assist them in that journey. I do not and will not bend over backwards "just because".

[brownbook]

Good thoughts "the customer is always right," can not be the driving force in medicine.

Most of our evaluations are very generic, 'scale of 1 - 10 were you satisfied with......" Then room for two lines on the bottom of the evaluation for comments.

No one is going to think the patient should be telling the nurse or doctor what medication to give them. If they find a trend that a certain nurse's patients always state they didn't get their pain medication on time or didn't get good pain relief that might give administration tools to assess that nurse or doctor.

I enjoy patient evaluations. 99% are boring, all good or satisfactory with no comments. Some are funny. "I wasn't told I would have a nasal cannula for oxygen after surgery." (This was a complaint!) Some give us a needed reminder. "The nurse didn't wash her hands after such and such." "It was very noisy near the nurses station." "I could smell the food the nurses were heating for lunch."

So.... wash your hands, keep the noise level down, be aware of the odor of food you are heating up.

I think of it as constructive criticism.

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

well guess what- it is that way- they are the customer. they are always right. and their families too. ME ME ME. i have bitten my tongue so many times its amazing that I have one left at all.

welcome to the Disneyland model of health care.

Yes, it really is that way :-(

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

Moons ago when I was in school we were taught to refer to patients as clients. I do many times depending upon the situation. But I wouldn't refer to them as customers. Yes they are but the terminology reflects a retail atmosphere.

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

Well some of the customer service I have been recieving in stores isnt always a pleasant experience recently and i hope that pts recieve better treatment!

[sameasalways, ASN, RN]

We were taught to refer to them as "clients" but also upon being hired you are given a psychological test of some sort and some of the questions and some of the questions when hired or in interviews (I interviewed at a lot of places) were regarding "who are the customers at the hospital?" The answer really is "everyone". The doctors, the patients and your coworkers. If my patient doesn't do well with morphine, then I call the doctor and get them what works for them. Is that customer service? Or just good nursing care? There is a fine line, true. But the patient often knows what works best for them and when healthcare providers don't listen it isn't very helpful for anyone. On the other hand, there is a difference between the patient who knows what works for them and what doesn't versus the patient who thinks they are staying at the Hilton Plaza.

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

Patient as customer is not a new idea. I believe that "the customer is always right" is actually an outdated idea. If you can't give them what they want, for whatever reason, explain it to them so they understand. This is the customer service in saying no. It's like being a parent, saying no is appropriate and beneficial sometimes. Being passive aggressive and just ignoring their request is a bad idea, it will make anyone feel neglected.

[kesr]

After a recent hospitalization a family member drives me crazy when she says "they waited on me real good!"

[makes needs known]

We are making improvements (new carpets,wallpaper and more) in our facility that everyone says makes it look like 'a fancy hotel'. So it stands to reason that our customers, clients or whatever might just think that their nurses and cna's are their own personal maids!!!!!

[MLMRN1120]

I was recently at a job interview for a new hospital..they gave me their policy manual to look over while i waited, and it indeed was based around "customer service". Even though I see it all the time, it still seems funny to me.

We are supposed to provide care to patients, not ring them up at a cash register. In my experience at my previous job, the customer service element was just something that was constantly held over our heads; if the patient's family was unhappy that their 16 relatives could not stay overnight, they would demand a manager and tell us that we were there to keep them happy. It's kinda frustrating.

[belgarion]

Was at Wally World the other day. There were only three people working check-out and about a dozen customers in line. After standing in line for about 20 minutes it was finally time to unload my basket. You guessed it! A "customer service" manager came and informed me that line was shutting down and I would have to go to another one and start waiting all over again.

Point is, if this is what passes for "customer service" these days, do we really want to refer to patient care as "customer service?"