Scripting Nurses?

[Cindylufus, BSN, RN]

I am an RN on a telemetry unit where the ratio is 7:1 at all times. We are technically the step down unit also. We get all of the d/c's down from CCU and ICU. Last week in our staff meeting, we were told there are key phrases that we are being required to say to our patients....much like scripting that sales and telemarketers use... Things like "I have the time for you" each time you are in the room with every patient. Does anyone else think this is a joke? I told my manager I refuse to be scripted...I don't have the time for this and I think I provide the best care I can for my patients. But most days each nurse has 3-4 discharges, and gets 3-4 patients back, either direct admit from the MD's office or from the ER. Anyone else having this problem?

[TazziRN, RN]

Oh, give me a break...........are you kidding??

"I have the time for you"???

If my nurse said that to me, I'd be looking at her like she'd lost her mind!

[burn out]

what if I didn't have time for them... then I lied. I don't beleive anyone should be telling you what to say. They can tell me things to chart about but not what to say when I chart them.

[nicuRN2007]

That's ridiculous. I think nurses are competent enough to decide for themselves what needs to be said. And saying "I have the time for you" every time you go into a patients room would just be stupid.

[all4schwa]

yeah, we've got lots of scripts. that's one of them. another one is " do you have any special needs?" they audit from time to time. if they patient answers "well, they ask me if theres anything i need", that's a fail. they want to hear the patient say that we used the script. i dont like to say 'do you have any special needs', it sounds dorky, and leaves yourself wide open.

[skipaway]

They tried to introduce "scripting" at our hospital and it didn't last. I think there was so much protest that it got quietly dropped. Good luck to you.

[RN4NICU, LPN, LVN]

They tried that Stepford Nurse scripting BS where I work as well. It lasted maybe 3 days. No one went along with it and eventually it was just forgotten about. Good riddance to it. It was one of the more asinine ideas upper management has had.

[TazziRN, RN]

yeah, we've got lots of scripts. that's one of them. another one is " do you have any special needs?" they audit from time to time. if they patient answers "well, they ask me if theres anything i need", that's a fail. they want to hear the patient say that we used the script. i dont like to say 'do you have any special needs', it sounds dorky, and leaves yourself wide open.

Uhh......it sounds the same to me......I know the wording is different, but to Joe Blow who is sick and not paying much attention, "Do you have any special needs" could be remembered as "They asked me if there was anything I needed."

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

Sometimes I just cant believe the things I read, I know it's the truth but I just find it so hard to believe

[pickledpepperRN]

I will not lie to a patient.

We are the most trusted profession because nurses are honest.

No big for profit, now going private, corporation should interfere with the nursing process. Ask the to write down that you are ordered to say you have the time when you do not.

Then you will have hard evidence that THEY are not to be trusted.

[caliotter3]

It's hard enough for me to figure out what I am going to say without putting my feet in my mouth, without having someone else tell me stupid things to say. Furthermore, there is plenty that is pertinent, that should be discussed, and gets missed, that mgmt types should be looking at. They need to have their time better managed. They are being less than productive, when this is all they can come up with.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I don't script either.

However, asking the patient "If there is anything I can do? I have the time." Lets them know they'd better ask for everything now because I'm moving on. I also tell them "I or my tech will be back to check on you in one hour" (or two if there's no tech).

It cuts down on call light use and usually they don't bother me. It's keeps me in control in a proactive way, rather than waiting for them to call at inconvenient times.

So while I refuse to follow scripts, I see the value in the ideas behind them.:chair:

I refuse to tell a patient "I'm so busy today, you're one of seven patients, you're not my only patient you know". I take a deep breath and make them feel like they have my full attention and I have time for them. I'm quick and methodical and but don't make the patient feel rushed. If that makes any sense. My ratio is anywhere from 5 to 7:1 and sometimes 8:1. It works some days, and some days it doesn't.