Press Gainey AARRGGHH

[susi_q]

:angryfire Need to rant a minute ... then would appreciate your suggestions...

Our most esteemed powers that be have said that for each patient we bring to a bed...we need to ask them "what is the one thing that I can do for you that will assure that I am giving you very good care?"

WHAT??? I understand in the in-patient setting that the "little things" matter, as they do in the ER, and I'm all about warm blankets and coffee for visitors (or whatever) ... when I have time. But by asking the question, aren't we setting the expectations higher, and then when I can't "get me out of here in 1 hour or less" or "get rid of my pain" or "keep me fed (belly pain)" ... I totally have no chance of meeting their expectaion! Besides ... I really thought ER was to take care of the presenting problem ... and say GoodBye!

Truly, I treat my patients extremely kindly, I keep them informed, work my tail off ... but am I crazy to feel like this is setting up a disaster?

[ann945n, RN]

Secret shoppers?? are you kidding me? Am I 16 again working at Tony Romas??

[texascowgirl]

no i am not kidding. we have secret shoppers and callers. plus we dont get any breaks. i work 12 hour shifts in the ER and get no breaks. i have questioned this but all the other staff say that there is no reason to complain because some days the ER is slow and it makes up for it. well how does that make up for going nonstop with no time to eat on the 12 hour busy days? one nurse did report them to the Labor Board and when they found out, they made her so miserable she had to quit. i have a contract for 2 years with a sign on bonus and i am not going to stay-i will pay the hospital back little by little for the rest of my life if i have to. i will not stay. i have worked ER for over 12 years and dont need this. has anyone quit on a contract and paid signon bonuses back?

Secret shoppers?? are you kidding me? Am I 16 again working at Tony Romas??

[nfahren05]

As I read these posts about patient surveys I am left to conclude that the average patient is:

a. a griper and whiner just waiting to get a nurse in trouble about something

b. never satisfied with anything we do

c. intent on asking the impossible and expecting to receive it

On the other hand, the average nurse:

a. only ever does their job flawlessley

b. is always unfairly assessed by patients

Having worked as a nurse in direct patient care across three states for 27 years I can say that I have discovered for myself that:

a. there are difficult patients and there are incompetent nurses

b. there are unreasonable families and there are unreasonable administrators

c. there are moments that make me want to continue in nursing despite all of that

So true. As irritating as it is to "have the time" and "strive for 5," we've all been in hospital departments that do have problems worse than no cupholders in the bathrooms, and Press-Gainey is the one way for patients to make truly useful suggestions (although many do focus instead on the details of the least satisfying, usually non-clinical, parts of their experience.) A letter to the department manager or medical director is only going to go in the "round file," no matter how valid the criticism, but negative comments on P-G can't be brushed aside so readily. It's unfortunate that the knee-jerk response of so many hospitals after a bad survey round is to rush right out to a consulting team whose specialty is marketing, not healthcare, to fix the situation. Bringing these results in-house, and talking with front-line clinical staff (instead of the usual handing out of printed survey copy "this is the complaint about you"..etc.) about system-wide problems might actually solve some problems.

[Myxel67]

Last month we got a snippy e-mail about low P-G scores from our CEO who is normally a fairly jovial guy (trying to keep us in the 100 best places to work). I'm trying to cool down before I reply, again reminding him again that we are a hospital, not a hotel.

We are a small department providing outpatient diabetes instruction. We also teach inpatients, but they don't count (for us, at least). On one of the surveys we received, the pt commented that while we gave generally very good instructions and information, we held too closely to the American Diabetes Association guidelines. Guess what--we are an ADA accredited facility.

Also had pt who had 2 recent visits to our hospital--one for outpt imaging and 1 for diabetes instruction. On the survey he got for us, all he commented about was the horrific treatment/service he had received in the x-ray dept. Without this survey, our scores were wonderful--would they take it out? Of course not "it would invalidate the survey results." Meanwhile, the manager of Imaging is running all over the hospital crowing about her wonderful survey results. Gotta love it!

[blueheaven]

the facility i work at now actually has secret shoppers and secret callers and people have been fired for things because of it. needless to say, i am not going to be working here much longer

Run and don't walk out of that facility!!!!!!!!!

That is sad!! Talk about taking things to the extreme. I once worked in a for-profit psych facility. If someone went to administration and told them they overheard you discussing a patient outside the hospital, you were immediately fired. No questions asked, no way to defend yourself. One nurse I know was fired because one of her co-workers got mad at her and reported her. What is the world coming to?

[KNARE]

I have been in the ED 21 yrs. and Press Ganey scores make our lives hell. Approx. 8 yrs. ago we were in the top 95th %. The hospital publisized this and had a picnic in the parking lot to celebrate. The ED staff doesn't get to go to lunch/dinner so we couldn't go to the picnic. Whether we are in the 90th or 80th % nothing seems to change. We are never good enough. It isn't about good pt. care, it's all about customer satisfaction. I can't meet the needs of a drug seeker, even if I have the time. I can't get a pt. to the treatment area with in 15 min. when we have 16 pts. in "Hold" status. I can't move a pt. out of the hall when we have 10 pts. in the hall and no where to go. A portion of our raise is determined on the Press Ganey scores. We haven't been able to have a full raise in YEARS!!!! All Press Ganey has done is frustrate us and make us resent them. Sorry, had to vent. sighhhhhh

[wooh, BSN, RN]

A portion of our raise is determined on the Press Ganey scores.

THAT is what really infuriates me about Press-Gainey scores!!

[MOOSEMAN]

I've worked in crazy ED's and yes I am one of the nurses that always uses scripting. I apol for their wait, tell them I closing the curtain/door for their privicy,etc. I alway thank them for using our hospital for their health care needs. After you do this for years it does seem genuine. And believe it or not pt's do remember this during calls.

[teeituptom, BSN, RN]

Nowadays its the press gainey we worry about

In my younger days we worried about being pressed by the draft

[Monkey RN]

Press Gainey is a very frustrating system for myself and many of my associates. Many of us feel that it has taken much of the genuality out of our approach to quality health care. At times I feel as if I am working at a theme park rather than a health care facility. The systems scoring is extremely inaccurate! Many times it is no different than a terrorist organization.

[Gorilla RN]

I totally agree, I feel that this being nice bell hop and chamber maid has to go. When i feel it may compromise the care that I need to give, I'm sorry but the patient stability comes first. NO MATTER WHAT!

Sure it may be a good tool for checking yourself against other institutions but that is where the line should be drawn. Keeping up with the Jones' is wrong.

[runneRN]

I agree with all the recent posts...healthcare has become so business oriented and now we are calling the patients our "customers".....this is craziness. They are patients...they will always be patients. I agree we should be repsectful and courteous even if we are running around like crazy people..... but in an ED environment of controlled chaos..the little things are harder to satisfy.I work in an inner city ED where the expectatons of some are quite unreasonable and unrealistic.You can bet they get a PG survey.

I am flabbergasted that employee raises are withheld because of poor PG scores.