Plain Tree hospitals?

[RN ColbyJack]

I recently heard a collegue talk about visiting a hospital she said was a Plain Tree facility. She decscribed a lot of its philosophies on patient care. It sounded very innovated and patient-focused. Anyone know any more about this?

[Selke]

I very briefly worked in a Planetree hospital in New England last year and was not impressed. Of course one Planetree facility is probably different from the next one. The decor and lighting reminded me of Comfort Inn hotels -- wood, neutral carpeting and upholstery, indirect lighting. The indirect lighting was nice. They had (to me) corny, muzak-like music piped into the main hallways. There was some talk about aromatherapy on my floor (OB) but the RNs laughed about it; never saw (or smelled) any aromatheraphy; the patients weren't the type to come in with nice smelling lotion for massages, either. There were expensive bedspreads and pillows on the beds which of course were removed when a patient came into the room, so they were of no real value. There were signs in the patient's rooms telling them they have the right to look at their chart, and to have a staff member review it with them. Of course this is a legal right anywhere. Other than that, I saw no difference between a Planetree hospital and others I've worked in --

In fact, I quit ASAP because the nurses were so nasty, and the nursing policies, procedures, and practices were so behind the times. The place was short staffed as to be unsafe. Pay was about $10 less per hour than the other hospitals. The unit was too cheap to buy adequate supplies. They would not buy butterfly needles, for example, because they were "too expensive." I got in trouble for BS like putting more than one piece of linen in the rooms, and for not "serving" "The Doctors" fast enough. (The RNs may have had it in for me because I was a graduate student, however.) They had marginal MDs, many of whom were refused privileges at other local hospitals they were so bad and had pending lawsuits. One of them did not wear gloves when rupturing membranes, for example, and would wipe his hands on his clothes and equipment.

I did hear that the psych unit was pretty good, although I had no experience with it. I doubt it's better than psych units in Chicago I'm familiar with.

I personally think this Planetree business isn't worth the fuss. Of course each of these facilities are different and someone else may rave about it. Any decent hospital with any committment to customer service, inclusive philosophies of care, and relatively up to date decorating schemes will be superior. Ha, we were more patient oriented, natural birth oriented, and baby-friendly in my California hospital ... and the staff were wonderfully nice, laid back California types, so the patients were happier.

I would like to hear other's experiences with Planetree. I've wondered about it myself. Maybe this awful little hospital is just a bad example of what Planetree is supposed to be about. It's gotta be about more than Comfort Inn Suites decor.