Thank you notes to patients?

pagandeva2000, LPN · Sep 11, 2008

I thought this was going to be a thread about sending a patient that really touched your heart a thank you note and if it was appropriate. Boy was I wrong.
I would simply refuse to write the notes and start looking for a new job. My job is to give patients the best damn care I can give them while they are with me. It's not my job to promote the hospital to them..

Unfortunately, it seems that many more facilities are following this route of insanity. Soon, there may not be anywhere to run. I'd love to forge a name...like Jack the Ripper.

It really doesn't bother me that much, and looking for a new job isn't really an option for me right now lol. It just seems....awkward. The manager for our unit even hand-wrote about 50 of these cards for us to sign and hand out...:stone

I would probably do what another poster mentioned...I wouldn't want to put my name, but something very generic like 'hope you feel better'.

I hope you are joking?! This is ridiculous!
This is one of many reasons I left the hospital setting almost 4 years ago now and will never return. Patients seemed to get more and more demanding over the years, and the hospital only seemed to encourage it by promoting the hospital like it was a hotel! The hospital is not a hotel! Hospitals are only going to run off more nurses with this ridiculous crap!

Yes, these silly and degrading situations make nurses run by the droves away from hospitals and I can see this happening even in other facilties. Next thing you know, you'll be giving thank you cards to inmates..."Thank you for mass-murdering that nice family. Had it not been for that, I would have never met you..." So STUPID!!!!!!

allnurses Guide · Sep 11, 2008

My hospital doesn't send these... yet... but we do send sympathy cards to families whose loved ones have died while on our unit. Nice idea, but the fact that EVERYONE signs them, and mostly just signatures, makes them seem a little shallow and not genuine.

The thank you card idea probably is a PG thing I'm sure, something that my hospital does not use, thank goodness..

Butterfliesnroses · Sep 11, 2008

IMO the thank you notes should be available for staff to use (because the hospital benefits if the note is sent out) but it shouldn't be a you HAVE to sign this type thing.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Sep 11, 2008

Upon discharge we give them a generic form letter that's a thank you letter.

Batman24 · Sep 11, 2008

I think it's creepy. People are in the hospital for care when they are ill, injured, etc. and we are thanking them for letting us care for them?! Ick.

"Thank you so much for having a heart attack. I was so grateful to have to pump you full of drugs, watch your family cry over you, see you fearful of dying, and most thrilling of all was putting tubes in every hole of your body. It was thoughtful of you to get sick so I could keep my job. I could never say how grateful I am. Please remember us again when your family is sick again. Thanks!!"

"Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Smith for choosing our hospital to treat your child that was recently diagnosed with cancer. How sweet of you to think of my employer to get the worst news of your life. Hope the chemo is going swell."

Seriously?! It's insulting and beyond creepy.

PianoGirl20 · Sep 12, 2008

honestly, it's hearing about stupid, condescending, drivel like this that just makes me want to abandon my BSN program tomorrow...

i bet they don't have doctors writing pts. these notes, so WHY does the nurse seem to always get stuck with duties like these?

wooh, BSN, RN · Sep 12, 2008

i bet they don't have doctors writing pts. these notes, so WHY does the nurse seem to always get stuck with duties like these?

Because the MD's raises aren't tied to the score. As of now, I just want to make my money. I've decided if I have to do a song and dance, I'll do a song and dance. (Yes, I've been beaten down by the powers that be.)

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Sep 12, 2008

I'm with casi, I thought this was a thread about how someone SO enjoyed a patient that they felt the need for a thank you note. I was curious, as I have never had the urge to send any patient a thank you note. I give the favorite ones a hug and warmly, genuinely wish them well. Then we're done.

The kind of cr@p the OP talks about blows me away. I am shocked there are OTHER hospitals doing it too! Have never heard of it, and hope I never ever see it come my way.

There was a thread not long ago about scripting, and some stupid crud the staff was being forced to say. I said that if I were at that meeting, I'd be retiring my scope and calling it quits. THIS also falls into that category.

You want me to write a thank you note to the patient that has no business being thanked for anything? You want me to sign a note for a patient I've never seen, or couldn't possibly care less about because they are only there for free food, free drugs, or a get-out-of-work-free card? Absolutely not. I'll leave right then, I promise you that.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Sep 12, 2008

Hey there, our ER manager is making all the employees write thank you notes to our patients thanking them for allowing us to take care of them.
This seems a little odd to me, I thought it was supposed to be the other way around. Do any of you practice this?

Oh.

My.

GOODNESS.

Can I :barf01: now?

Seriously. I am SO glad I don't work in a hospital anymore.......this is even worse than scripting. :devil:

Dolce, RN · Sep 12, 2008

I work in Outpatient Surgery and we do send out cards to the patients. They are not "thank you" cards so much as they are a little pre-printed message that says we hope they are feeling better and gives a phone number to call if they have questions or comments. I actually like the cards because some of the staff like to write little messages to the patients. They are NOT mandatory to sign and only the staff actually caring for the patient sign the cards. I think it is cheesy for each person to sign. That makes it seem like an office birthday card.

I have received phone calls from sending out these cards because the patients really appreciate them. I think post-op patients are usually in a confused state of mind when they leave and so it is nice for them to get a card a couple of days later so they can remember who cared for them and have a phone number to call if they have questions.

As far as ER goes...I just don't see how it would be feasible to send hand written cards to all your patients. Your patient volume is too high for one thing.

Maybe your manager has shares in Hallmark? :confused:

darkblue · Sep 12, 2008

I work in Outpatient Surgery and we do send out cards to the patients. They are not "thank you" cards so much as they are a little pre-printed message that says we hope they are feeling better and gives a phone number to call if they have questions or comments. I actually like the cards because some of the staff like to write little messages to the patients. They are NOT mandatory to sign and only the staff actually caring for the patient sign the cards. I think it is cheesy for each person to sign. That makes it seem like an office birthday card.
I have received phone calls from sending out these cards because the patients really appreciate them. I think post-op patients are usually in a confused state of mind when they leave and so it is nice for them to get a card a couple of days later so they can remember who cared for them and have a phone number to call if they have questions.
As far as ER goes...I just don't see how it would be feasible to send hand written cards to all your patients. Your patient volume is too high for one thing.
Maybe your manager has shares in Hallmark? [/quote
This would actually make more sense then what we're currently doing. But still, I would rather just focus on giving the best care I can then worrying if I signed and sent the patient a thank-you note.

icunurse42066 · Sep 12, 2008

I want to write this one, "Thank you so much for inserting (insert favorite foreign object here) into your rectum and allowing us to remove it. We really needed the laugh that night. You made an otherwise monotonous night in the ER thrilling and eventful!!! Sincerely, Nurse X"