So, Administration came up with the wonderful idea to improve customer service at my hospital in a multi-phase system. Among the great things our already burnt out nursing staff can look forward to is 24 hour visitation, Starbucks coffee drink carts going room to room, waiting rooms remodeled with Ethan Allen furnature, massages, valet parking, 24 hour room service, wifi internet service, Flatscreen tvs, Ipods, DVD and a blockbuster video store. The list goes on and on, but you get my point. In a nutshell, my hospital is going to become the hilton of hospitals!!!
i work at an inpatient hospice unit with 24 hour visitation . even with the added stress having a dying loved one, it just works. that is my , with a bit of experience in the matter.
have to point out that there is a huge difference in mindset between hospice and inpatient units..having done both. hospice families [usually; nothing is absolute] are looking for peace, dignity, and symptom control, and know their time with their loved ones is limited. they are also experienced with the health care system by the time they get to hospice.
many patients and families on acute units are having a new experience and really, truly think the nursing staff is just like the hospitality staff at the ritz--no clue about nurses' roles, triage, or any reason why you can't just stop in the middle of a code to get momma some juice.:smackingf
having said that, i agree with advise to the op-find a place where nurses are more important that lattes!!:angryfire
Hopefully the walls are soundproof. We have a couple of cultural groups in the area where I live that come with large families and stay with the patient. There can be 8-10 little kids in a room; with the attendant noise and mess. I always wonder if people only knew what germs exist in a hospital if they would then expose their little ones.
It's hard on the patients who need their rest and hear lots of noise and laughter all night long in the room next door. It's getting to be a big problem in postpartum.
If your hospital is serious about this (and it sounds like they are) they need to hire a well-staffed concierge group to handle the guests .
Yeah, I completely forgot that good nursing care = flat screen tv's and Starbucks! What the heck was I thinking by wasting my time going to EKG classes, learning ACLS, PALS, going for my BSN, all while working 3-4 12 hour shifts in a busy ED each week??? I guess I should instead focus on knowing what premium movie channels we have, and the Starbucks menu......geez!!
And yeah, 24-hour visitation is only necessary for certain units or special situations, not for everywhere! That's insane.
Specializes in Infection Preventionist/ Occ Health.
I agree that having family members of patients stay 24/7 can be both a blessing and a curse. There are some children who act up when their parents are present but become angels the second they are alone with the nurse. There are others who would scream all night long if Mama wasn't right next to them in the bed. Many of the parents of the chronic kids are such a blessing to us- they do the g-tube cares, set up the feeds, etc. They want to be involved in their child's care and we welcome the help. There are other parents who think that it's acceptable to show up at 10 pm with their four other kids (only parents and grandparents are allowed after 8pm). Some siblings make pests of themselves by eating the food out of the kitchen, hogging the video games that are meant for the patients, asking the nurse for soda every 10 minutes, etc.
I think that having family members present 24/7 is possible as long as security at the doors and every single nurse is committed to enforcing the rules. Sometimes I'm just thankful that I don't have to work night shift anymore, because some parents would get very upset when told at 11pm that it's time for their rambunctious three-year old to go home.
I feel bad for the patients that are really ill and sharing a room/floor with patients that have big families and tons of friends spending the night. Can you imagine puking your guts up from chemo and having to deal with moppets at 1am?! How about coming out of surgery in tons of pain and listening to people fight at 2am?! I also think the place that will be hit really hard is post partum. The new mother will get no rest nor will the infant as family members will be passing the baby around at all hours.
I feel for the medical staff. Patients aren't going to want to be bothered with little things like PT, EKG, ultrasound, etc. when they have a massage scheduled while sipping their Starbucks. Idiots.
I had a contract with a facility that was working its way toward this nonsense (thank God I was in and out of there before it went full-swing).
Shortly after I started they went into "Magnet mode" :icon_roll Began posting graphs and charts on their PG scores; the PG cards were taped all over the bathroom wall. Every week, the manager hung a big sign up in the break room with the list of complaints.
They changed their visiting hours to 24/7. Problem was, only 4 rooms were private, and those were taken up by patients on isolation precautions.
There was one group of visitors who were particularly obnoxious (many were, but these stand out). They came in after midnight, bringing small children and stinky fast food. They went into their family member's room --- a semi --- turned on the overhead exam lights and the TV and proceeded to laugh and holler and generally be a complete nuisance.
Their family member wasn't my patient, so I waited to see what the charge nurse or patient's nurse would do. They just gritted their teeth and rolled their eyes.
So I thought 'screw it'. Walked in and turned off the lights and TV, told the visitors that they were disturbing the other patients and needed to leave... 'please say your goodbyes and drive carefully'. I think they were too shocked to raise too much hell; they left shortly thereafter.
When the manager questioned me, I put on my innocent face and told her I was simply providing excellent customer care for the other patients who were being kept awake and couldn't speak for themselves.
On second thought, maybe this could be a blessing in disguise...At hotels, there is the expectation of tipping. I'd be happy to divide 20% of the total bill with the other nurses .
I want to add that the hospital I work for is committed to seeing this restructuring phase through to the end. All in all $25 million in making the hospital the grand hilton.
:scrm: $25 million???
So what's going to be their excuse when they call off nurses, even though the floor is filled with total care pt's and management doesn't give a rats, uh, behind that you're so busy that you haven't peed in 14 hours? But that's ok, because you haven't had anything to drink since your last vacation.
Just what some visitors need - caffeine so they can breathe down your neck all night and can keep the sleepy, sick, exhausted pt's awake.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Oh, dear God, am I glad I don't work in acute care anymore............they were just starting 24/7 room service when I left. I felt like a glorified waitress half the time anyway, even though no one ever had to tell me to be nice to people or make me sit through "customer service" trainings to learn how to sound like a Stepford nurse. What on earth are hospital administrators THINKING these days???!!!
A couple of years ago my hospital had room service for their meals with leather bound menus, food delivered by waiter in suit with black tie carrying a silver tray. Patients seem to act more like they were in a fancy hotel and we were their personal servants. I was glad to see that go. One thing I do like is each patient has a TV/Lap top computer with internet access that hangs on a bar that can be pulled anywhere around the bed or chair- it keeps them occupied. It would be nice though if they would realise one day that staffing ratios have alot to do with patient satisfaction too. They spend millions on landscaping. This is a small cornor of where I work, doesn't that look like the country club?
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BlueRidgeHomeRN
829 Posts
have to point out that there is a huge difference in mindset between hospice and inpatient units..having done both. hospice families [usually; nothing is absolute] are looking for peace, dignity, and symptom control, and know their time with their loved ones is limited. they are also experienced with the health care system by the time they get to hospice.
many patients and families on acute units are having a new experience and really, truly think the nursing staff is just like the hospitality staff at the ritz--no clue about nurses' roles, triage, or any reason why you can't just stop in the middle of a code to get momma some juice.:smackingf
having said that, i agree with advise to the op-find a place where nurses are more important that lattes!!:angryfire