So the hospital where I work is infatuated with customer service and improving survey scores.
However, they still love to give us 6 and 7 pts each on a busy really BUSY med/surg/tele floor. With only one tech for the whole floor btw (20 pts).
So in a meeting yesterday we are told that we should be able to anticipate our patients needs and be be proactive, we should never have to react.
We were told that whenever a patient hits the light, that is an error and that we will be expected to do better.
We were also told that we would now have to do mandatory hourly rounding on every patient and start using scripted phrases and greetings.
We are also secretaries as our docs still write orders in paper charts and we must then remove them and fax them to order entry and then to pharmacy....
Ah yes pharmacy....we never have the meds we need and spend on avg 2 of 12 hours tracking down meds and on the phone with the pharmacy. ...
Hmmmm there is a type of nursing where call bells are not needed--it is called private duty, and usually happens at home. Otherwise, perhaps management will hire more nurses so everyone can be 1:1.
The customer service model and questionaires are multi questions--yes, the nurse attended to my needs promptly, however, did not respect my privacy--and stood in my room while I used the commode.....
This is a no win situation. And as a pp pointed out, created by those who have not been at the bedside in forever.....
Patients have a right to privacy. It will take the Joint Commission to interview one patient who complains that they can't rest because the nurse is hovering to maybe change that.
Management seems to want a 1:1 model of care, at the bedside and in the room 24/7, but are hesitant to hire enough people to make that possible.
Are you a union hospital? They would have a field day the first time a nurse is written up for allowing a patient to use their call bell as opposed to being psychic.....
Our script includes asking patients before we leave the bedside "Is there anything I can do for you now, because I have the time?" It grates my nerves to no end. Of course I ask my patients before I leave if there is anything else they need, though they usually remember that extra towel they want about 2 minutes after I've left instead of while I'm there but no, I most likely DON'T have the time and it's so stupid that they want us to say something so blatantly untrue that serves no purpose.
Specializes in Telemetry, Oncology, Progressive Care.
I NEVER say I have the time now. Does that mean if they need me later I won't have the time then? I think it sounds absurd.
I can't tell you how many times I round on my patient and ask if they need anything. I think just saying that gets them thinking and when you put them on the spot they can't think of anything and that is the reason they think of it after you leave.
It never fails that the iv pump can be working perfectly but the minute I leave out of the room it starts beeping and on goes the call light.
Since we are not psychic and everyone has different personalities that you don't get to truly know it is impossible to anticipate every single thing.
When you give someone a laxative you can't predict when they're going to have a bowel movement. Everyone reacts differently and some can go a couple times an hour. Forget if you're cleaning them out for a colonoscopy.
Lol a call light is considered an error?? Really? I guess you'll just have to rely on your mind reading powers... cause that makes much more sense... (insert sarcasm)
This sounds like the set up of a bad joke. I'm all about being proactive--it simply makes my shift easier. To assume that we've failed if a patient call light goes off is silly. All a statement like that does is decrease trust in the NM who made it.
This sounds like a very manager thing to say. Or like a person who hasn't actually been at the bedside in a while thing to say.
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I've noticed that the strictest of bosses are the same ones who haven't been at the bedside for YEARS, decades even. They are so far removed, they forget what being a nurse or even an aide is all about. Call lights are there for a reason, and I'm not a psychic.
Our script includes asking patients before we leave the bedside "Is there anything I can do for you now, because I have the time?" It grates my nerves to no end. Of course I ask my patients before I leave if there is anything else they need, though they usually remember that extra towel they want about 2 minutes after I've left instead of while I'm there but no, I most likely DON'T have the time and it's so stupid that they want us to say something so blatantly untrue that serves no purpose.
Do we work for the same hospital? My hospital expects us to say the same thing! As a PCA, my work is NEVER done, and most of the time, don't have the time to jump up like a little puppy at people's orders.
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Tait, MSN, RN
2,142 Posts
I don't have much to add other than considering a call light an "error" is a frivolous threat and makes your manager sound burnt out and tired.