"Customer service" and nursing

Published

Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.

I've seen a lot of people talk about 'customer service' in a disparaging manner, as if that is not what nursing is about and it's making their lives harder to provide it.

Could someone explain that more for me?

Personally customer service is another way of saying good bedside manner. It doesn't matter what you know if you cannot present it in a way that encourages others to follow you. Many of the things I hear people complaining about for "customer service", could be solved by patient/family education and a less adversarial relationship between staff and family.

What are your thoughts?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, med/surg.

I believe...

Customer service implies that you work FOR the patient in a subservient manner. It is my belief that nurses work WITH a patient.

I'm happy that I work in Canada where hospitals are Goverment run public services. We're not in the business of making patients happy, we're in the business of making them heathy!

I won't lie, my years of customer service experience prior to becoming a nurse make my bedside manner come naturally.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I don't know that anyone would refuse to show good bedside manners to a patient or their family.

The issue I have with customer service is that it has taken priority over patient care. It's more important that the nurse learn the cute, robotic phrases, than know what is current in the literature and how to provide good nursing care.

People have become so used to fast service in every aspect of their life, they also expect it when they come into the hospital. They no longer understand if their procedure gets pushed back a couple of hours because their doc has an emergency. Or, they feel it's ok to move four of their family members into the hospital with them, and demand free food and drink for all, and become angry when you say no. They also do not understand if the nurse has an emergency with another patient and can't get to them as quick as they want- everyone has become very egocentric, and it doesn't matter if you explain you had an emergency.

My favorite is when they let their kids run loose around the nurses station, screaming, and playing with the elevators. If you ask them to please corral their kids, and explain they could get hurt, you get the evil eyeball.

It's not that nurses don't want to provide customer service. But the public has to understand that they are here for medical care. I am here to take care of the patient first, the family second.

Educating them about what we can and cannot provide does not always work, because when the satisfaction scores drop, everyone wants to know why. I can't help it if the the public has forgotten what the hospital is for.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I absolutely agree that customer service and satisfaction survey results have become the priority over patient care.

I love critical care nursing. I love working with very sick unstable patients.

I do not enjoy doing all of the above while also being expected to entertain their families because of 24/7 open visitation. I do not enjoy that I must work harder and have more interruptions to caring for critically ill patientes because of families/visitors being present.

The number one cause of medication errors is distraction. I have found myself on occasion searching for a polite way to tell a family member not to distract me and that their incessant interruption is causing me to be unable to care for any of my patients properly, including thier family member.

If I sound burnt out.. I am. That's why I'm actively trying to find a job in an area that involves much less customer service.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I've seen a lot of people talk about 'customer service' in a disparaging manner, as if that is not what nursing is about and it's making their lives harder to provide it.

Could someone explain that more for me?

Personally customer service is another way of saying good bedside manner. It doesn't matter what you know if you cannot present it in a way that encourages others to follow you. Many of the things I hear people complaining about for "customer service", could be solved by patient/family education and a less adversarial relationship between staff and family.

What are your thoughts?

If "customer service," as applied to nursing, was about providing the best care I could possibly give my patient, than I would be all for it. However that is not how TPTB view it. It's become about keeping the patient AND their families happy at the expense of the nurse and at the expense of nursing care FOR ALL the patients.

Educating them about what we can and cannot provide does not always work, because when the satisfaction scores drop, everyone wants to know why. I can't help it if the the public has forgotten what the hospital is for.

Exactly. No one seems to remember what the hospital is for and what the nurses are supposed to be there for. In fact "customer service," IMO has become just another issue/excuse for TPTB to berate nurses about. Nurses are expected by TPTB to tolerate abuse (verbal, physical, sexual, mental, etc) as part of their job, in fact as a consumer, I've never seen another place of business tolerate the garbage that nurses get heaped on them.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.

Playing devil's advocate:

So if you know all the research, but have no patience for the families and dealing with the service oriented aspects of nursing, how do you intend to get anyone to listen to your knowledge about that?

Some of the things that nurses are mentioning here are problems because they allow them to be problems. Irish diplomacy: "The ability to tell someone to go to hell so that they look forward to the trip".

No, nurses are not "subservient" to the pts. and their families, but they are partners and many times the nurses feel that things are not going to be understood by the pts. anyway, so why bother.

There's also a degree of empathy and compassion necessary. Although being in a hospital is an everyday occurrence to you, but to the patient it could be could be a very stressful experience, but everyone shows that stress differently.

Maybe my point of view is different working in a peds hospital where you are expected to have to work with the family.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Customer service in healthcare is nothing but cow patties. I do not take care of customers, I take care of patients. I am there to try to help my patient get well, or at least better.....not to get blankets for the visitors. If you're cold, go home and get a jacket. I am there to administer life-saving meds to the patient, not get a Tylenol for the friend with a headache.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Diabetes ED, (CDE), CCU, Pulmonary/HIV.

Our CEO recently sent out an e-mail complaining that our customer satisfaction scores were down. He was especially upset that our parent hospital had a significantly higher score. He cancelled the usual awards program and told us to go out and do something nice for our pts or help someone find their way around the hospital. I felt insulted.

My feelings about this issue have not changed. A hospital is not a hotel and should not be judged on the same criteria. I've told him (CEO) that just because someone likes our hospital, they are not going to suspend their judgment and give us all 5's. The person's mood when they get the survey in the mail often has a much to do with our scores as our actual service. Our diabetes care center is accredited by the ADA. One outpatient rated us lower because we seemed to follow ADA guidelines too closely.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatrics Only.
Customer service in healthcare is nothing but cow patties. I do not take care of customers, I take care of patients. I am there to try to help my patient get well, or at least better.....not to get blankets for the visitors. If you're cold, go home and get a jacket. I am there to administer life-saving meds to the patient, not get a Tylenol for the friend with a headache.

I was about to respond....but this sums it up perfectly! Well said.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.

How many of us who have been in the hospital or had loved ones in the hospital have complained about the care. There have been several threads about this type of thing. By golly if I'm paying high insurance premiums, taxes to medicare, and high deductables, you but your bippy I'm a customer and you'd best treat me and my family profesionally and deliver quality care or you're going to hear from me.

I think customer service just addresses these issues. I'm a little hung up on the word "customer", but in the end if it helps improve the quality of care I'm all for it.

Naturally everyone here on this thread provides quality care. Unfortunately some don't. As patient advocates the customer service movement at least gives them and their families a voice. Rather than the dictatorial nursing style of the past where the patient just came in and did what they were told and a "good patient" never complained.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Where I live there was a new Presbyterian Hospital that opened. It wasn't a limited-service facility...it was a fully functional hospital with all levels of ICU, Trauma, NICU, etc. One of my cousins runs the lab for one of their hospitals and has worked for the system for 14 years.

She told me the staff that was hired for that hospital, were carefully hand picked, and many of the staff that lived closer to the facility that put in for transfers didn't get them....because the criteria for hire and transfer is that you had to be willing to do anything and everything for the patient, not only for their personal care, but for their personal comfort and all over satisfaction with with the visit.

They have services like people that will come and cut and style your hair in your room, pedicures, manicures, magazine and book search and delivery services...etc.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

The biggest problem with "customer service" is that the patients and their families see a nurse as something other than a professional...how can someone who cleans bedpans be a professional? Alot of this is brought on by people who misrepresent themselves as nurses such as CNA 's leading others to believe their work equals a nurses.

I don't know what was going on this weekend but I have never been yelled at and spoken to by families (notice mor than one) in all my years of nursing. It was so bad on our unit with the families being so derogatory and the patients so needy and demanding that we actually closed visiting times down. Reasons:

Bed 1 calls out for some one to put ice in her mouth or move her leg"but Mrs. X you can ring your bell why can't you put ice in your own mouth.

Bed 4 is a quad and needs someone to put ice in his mouth and move his legs

Bed 2 is crazy wild trying to get oob

Bed 5 nice old lady with a jackass of a son when found out that mom was npo announces to the whole unit "You don't treat a dog like that" the adds as he walks by bed 4 on his way out of the unit (yes I kicked him out for that remark) There is that poor quad boy..paralyzed poor thing.

Bed 6 Momma just found unresponsive put on vent millions of children crying and wailing with nashing of teeth, family prisoners being brought in from several state pens. to visit

I need more than calgon to get away.

What is customer service again?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion