Thank You Notes to Patients?

Nurses Relations

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  1. Do you write personal thank you notes to your patients?

    • 22
      Yes
    • 80
      No
    • 3
      Sometimes

78 members have participated

Hey y'all!

Do any of you hand write thank you notes? If you do, what do you say? My facility sends pre-printed notes that all of us sign, but for the last month or so I've started sending a relatively generic hand-written note to all of my patients who are discharged home... I work on an oncology unit, so many of our families receive sympathy cards instead. With that said, what is or is not appropriate to say in a thank you note?

Here's what I typically say in my thank you notes:

"I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed being your nurse during your stay on 12 East. You were a great patient and I'm so happy you're feeling better.

I hope you keep getting stronger every day!"

Lots of times I personalize the note with something I've learned about the patient or their family... and if I truly did not enjoy being their nurse or if they were NOT a very good patient (rude/demanding) I leave those parts out or replace them with something different.

What do you think?? I always use hospital stationary and never take patient info away from the hospital, so no HIPAA violations.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

OP, is there another way to stay contact???

If these are Onc patients who you see very frequently, maybe there is a way for nurses to outreach and make follow-up calls or something like that...I worked on a floor that did follow-up with certain Tele pts. It was assigned to two charge and two resource nurses.

I rather reach out than send a card, if possible. See if you can create an outreach program, instead of the card, perhaps?

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I think it's great that you are able to do such a wonderful thing....but I have to agree with the other responses....I barely have time to eat....let alone send a thank you note for my hard work....It's commendable! But ummmm I can't! Or should I say I won't!

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative Care.

I am LOVING all of y'all's responses!! Thank you!!

The "higher-ups" do many of our discharge calls... I'm not really looking to stay in contact, just to let the pts know I'm thinking about them and hoping they're doing alright, because I truly do care about them.

And call me lazy, but I'd much rather take 3 minutes to send a card than to sit down and develop any type of outreach program where I'd expect at least 3 more people to be on board :/ I can't even get 3 people on this board to agree with me! ;)

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Then ask the higher ups how you can become involved.

I'm just not a "thank you note" person in my relationships with my patients...philosophically, I'm from a school of thought on how I specifically setup my nurse-patient relationships. I've had pt's and their families an come back to visit me several times, dining back standing, and coming back walking ( while I worked in rehab) as well as kids who wanted to see "Ms. Ladyfree" children-adults...and some who I saw for the last time, and knew they were not coming back...it's part of a journey for me.

A thank you card, for me, is just not something I would do as a nurse, and that's me, coming from a place where I seem the transition of healthcare as a customer service model. I entered healthcare in the mid-late 90s, so for those who seen these changes first hand, "thank you note" is a trigger for us, lol. :)

And for some, that doesn't fit into their nursing practice.

You can only do and feels right in your nursing judgement. If you feel you would like to do more for these patients, get involved with the follow up calls...I am sure they would love to hear from a "familiar face", or keep doing the "hello how are you" (much better than thank you...I shudder ;) ) notes, whatever floats your boat! :)

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Specializes in Transitional Nursing.

I work inpatient Rehab, so its a bit different for us. We send feel-better cards. They may say something like thank-you for choosing blah blah hospital system or something, I don't remember. They're put in the patients chart and at some point during the patients stay we are encouraged to sign them. I usually add some kind of personal statement appropriate for the pts dx. They also get T-shirts which all of the staff signs and writes words of encouragement on.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I don't think it's a good idea for a nurse to free-lance personal contact with patients even if it is strictly in your role as a nurse. If a facility wants to send cards or T-shirts that everyone signs I'm sure the patients would appreciate it. In private duty nursing we send sympathy cards to the families when their loved one passes away.

But since you asked for opinion on the content I probably would not use the phrase "you were a great patient" because to me it implies there is some behavioral expectation related to the "good patient", the one who doesn't complain etc., not the rude, hostile or aggressive patient. I don't know what I'd say if it was mandatory to send a thank you note to every patient, including those who yelled "get out of my room *****!" to the staff.

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative Care.

Thank you!! This is exactly the type of feedback I'm looking for! You make an excellent point about saying they were great patients. I hadn't considered the implications. Great advice...

I don't think it's a good idea for a nurse to free-lance personal contact with patients even if it is strictly in your role as a nurse. If a facility wants to send cards or T-shirts that everyone signs I'm sure the patients would appreciate it. In private duty nursing we send sympathy cards to the families when their loved one passes away.

But since you asked for opinion on the content I probably would not use the phrase "you were a great patient" because to me it implies there is some behavioral expectation related to the "good patient", the one who doesn't complain etc., not the rude, hostile or aggressive patient. I don't know what I'd say if it was mandatory to send a thank you note to every patient, including those who yelled "get out of my room *****!" to the staff.

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Is your employer aware that you are sending personal notes on hospital stationary? Some people may consider receiving a personal note in their private home an intrusion of their privacy.

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Dear Patient,

Thank you for getting sick so that my hospital could make some money and I could continue to draw a paycheck. Please come back the next time you are ill or injured, and if it's something infectious, please spread it to your friends and family before arrival.

Sincerely,

Your Nurse

(Ok, probably NOT the best way to write a thank you.)

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Specializes in MDS/ UR.

I wouldn't be comfortable doing it in general. I wouldn't want it as a patient. A follow up phone call is okay from the ER or UC or discharge team but that sort of thing, no thanks.

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Specializes in Oncology, Palliative Care.
Is your employer aware that you are sending personal notes on hospital stationary? Some people may consider receiving a personal note in their private home an intrusion of their privacy.

Good question... Yes, I cleared it with my nurse manager beforehand and she said it was a great idea and wished more nurses did it. I consider them much more professional notes than personal "let's-be-besties" ones.

You make a good point... Although I would hope few people would consider a thank you note an intrusion of privacy, if a patient seemed very private I might not send them one... that would be a judgement call based on each patient. I would much rather have a patient complain because they received a thank you note than most other things. ("I can't believe that nurse said she hopes I feel better!!" LOL)

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Would you want your patients to access confidential files to find out your home address and send you a thank you letter?

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