Recovery has a new meaning?

[dnnc52]

Okay I remember when recovery was a room now called PACU. Then it was a term used for nurse and folks who are dealing and have been in treatment for drug addiction. Now the term is used in a different term as in "Customer recovery" In these days with increasing advertisements about "Come to hospital not the one down the street" type hype. We are re-naming our patients to "Customers". Almost the " thank you for shopping K-mart", type situation. I have no problem with providing pt care. I really think that if the hospitals would spend more money on staffing and less on hyping and advertising that a hospital with really good staffing would simply by reputation get the patients (customers) to exceed to competition. Maybe I am just too old fashion?

Also in our unit actually we are calling our patients after they leave to do a survey, asking if they got their excellent care. I just want to share and see if other nurse and hospitals are following the same ....

[Tait, MSN, RN]

Do a quick search on "hospitality, customer service or Press Gainey" and I think you will find a multitude of opinions (most of them negative) on the what most feel to be an attack on their bedside care.

I for one believe the hospital should be a more comfortable place. I mean, lets be honest, its sucks to be sick, it sucks to be away from home, and it sucks to have strangers coming in at you from all sides and seeing you at your most vulnerable.

I tend to feel the problem is rather than making staff happy first and letting that move on to the patients, they are just strangling most staffs with new rules that make them increasingly UNhappy.

Tait

[llg, PhD, RN]

Oh yes ... It's all about marketing now. They'll pay for marketing and for nurses to do phone calls to public relations. Meanwhile, they cut the nursing education budgets and all that other "fluff" that helps nurses actually do a good job of patient care.

[Straydandelion]

I have no problem with providing pt care. I really think that if the hospitals would spend more money on staffing and less on hyping and advertising that a hospital with really good staffing would simply by reputation get the patients (customers) to exceed to competition. Maybe I am just too old fashion?

I guess I am old fashion also then... making a hospital into a hyped "store" situation makes light of the serious problems of illness and what every worker there is for i.e. to help and support the patient not to sell them something. How many people in a town "know" which is a good hospital and which isn't by just hearing experiences of others that were there? I think most do... and we all know the better staffed the hospital is, the better the patient care.