That is not how you address one on the telephone.. *vent*

[Forever Sunshine]

One of my residents was sent out to the hospital today. This evening I called over to the ER to check on how he was doing. I had to explain why I was calling about 4 different times to 4 different people.. and not one of them was polite. I was literally treated like a telemarketer.

I mean even when I'm having the worst of days.. I still manage to dig deep down and find a smidgeon of a good mood to at least smile and act humane to the person on the telephone.

Don't think thats asking for too much. My job is busy too.

[David13, MSN, RN]

Honestly I don't even remember the names.

What bugs me the most is they didn't even use proper telephone etiquette. The conversation went like this...

Them- "ER..."

(no hello.. or good evening or saying what their name is)

Me- *my situation*

Them- "Hold on.."

Now this went on 4 times.. the same exact way.. maybe one used her name when answering...

And the woman(not even sure if she was a nurse or clerk) who finally gave me the information.. didn't even say goodbye when she hung up the phone.

Is that professional? Not a blip.

What you have described here is completely unprofessional behavior. Although you may not know their names (particularly since they did not even bother to provide them to you), you can still report the situation, including the date and time of the call. Individuals may not be able to be singled out; however, if the administration at this facility has any interest in changing this type of behavior, they can still follow up on this encounter.

This is just my opinion regarding what I would do if I had been on the receiving end of that type of rude and unprofessional behavior. At any rate, I am sorry you received this type of treatment, and even sorrier for the supposed "professionals" who delivered it to you.

[KareBear0609]

I wouldn't come on here to vent, you will only get put down and criticized even more for trivial things. It's a shame, but that is what I have learned about this website. No one around just to say "I'm sorry that happened to you."

[waksbr]

Sorry this happened to you. One of my pet peeves is rude telephone behavior. I also try to use good telephone manners no matter what kind of day I am having. There is no excuse for being just plain rude.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

One of my residents was sent out to the hospital today. This evening I called over to the ER to check on how he was doing. I had to explain why I was calling about 4 different times to 4 different people.. and not one of them was polite. I was literally treated like a telemarketer.

I mean even when I'm having the worst of days.. I still manage to dig deep down and find a smidgeon of a good mood to at least smile and act humane to the person on the telephone.

Don't think thats asking for too much. My job is busy too.

Ha ha, this is kinda funny actually. In another thread, I kinda called out LTC nurses and told them to educate people in other fields about what it is they do and how it does actually use nursing skills. Someone in the thread made a comment to the effect of "LTC nurses have nothing to teach".

Anyway, that's kinda off topic. I'm just laughing cause, now I need teaching. Kinda Deja-vu-ish.

Here is where I am with your situation, cause, TBH, I get a lot of the calls you made. Why do you guys do that? The patient is out of your facility, you can't do anything about it. Is it just personal interest, or something (what I've always attributed it too) like........you want to be able to answer family questions if they call your facility?

Reason I ask is, I get.........eh........weird when you guys call me. I'm not rude but, I'm vague to the point of almost being rude (I think). I answer these calls with an almost prepared statement: "Oh, they are great, thanks for calling. In bed, home meds ordered and being looked at. Have a nice day."

Now, you are probably wanting to ask me "why?". Well, TBH, those phone calls make me more than a little bit nervous. I'd love for anyone who is good at dissecting HIPAA from a legal standpoint chime in here. Is this, answering your questions, a HIPAA violation? Have we as nurses gotten used to making the calls you make simply because.........we have not been caught yet, not because they are OK?

My first impression is that yes, it is. You are no longer part of the "care team" because, well..........you are not working in the facility they are CURRENTLY admitted to. Sooooo.............should I be talking to you?

I know, I know......I have a very vivid imagination but I can see myself being in a situation where a LTC nurse calls for info because she wants to play CYA..............changes documentation or w/e to eliminate errors that were made. Then, the whole thing blows up and I am hung out to dry for having talked to you.

OK, a little bit paranoid there but you get my meaning. So, educate me. Why do you guys make this call anyway knowing............it may be a HIPAA violation? Or am I just way off with interpreting it as a violation?

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

I am sorry they were rude to you. There really is no reason to be rude no matter how busy they were.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

I wouldn't come on here to vent, you will only get put down and criticized even more for trivial things. It's a shame, but that is what I have learned about this website. No one around just to say "I'm sorry that happened to you."

Sorry this happened to you. One of my pet peeves is rude telephone behavior. I also try to use good telephone manners no matter what kind of day I am having. There is no excuse for being just plain rude.

I am sorry they were rude to you. There really is no reason to be rude no matter how busy they were.

Ha ha ha ha:lol2:

I was going to ignore this but since KareBear gave kudos to waksbr, I can't help myself.

I just got a chuckle out of those two threads with KearBear's comments followed by........well, you see it. IDK, just made me laugh and wonder "Hmmmm, was that a sincere sorry, or were they making a liar outta KB?"

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Yes rude is rude. But Erik is right.

[mazy]

They were rude but I also think ericsoln is right. My understanding is that the hospital cannot give out patient information once the patient has been discharged from our facility via transport to ER. That the patient is no longer under our care and so giving out info would be a HIPAA violation. That's always been the policy I've worked under.

In addition, in cases where I have needed to follow up, i.e. for the family who has misplaced their loved one, not been around when the discharge occurred, or paperwork missing, etc. etc. I usually wait until the patient would have actually been admitted to whatever unit, then call the main line to track down the patient and be connected to that unit. By that time, everyone is a lot more calm, and the patient info will have been sorted out, admitting dx, authorization to release info, etc. etc.

Although there have been a few times that the ER doc has called to ask me questions about the patient and I can get more information at the same time. I've never had a facility tell me to call the hospital and get an admitting dx, that seem kind of strange to me, but I guess some do.

[David13, MSN, RN]

Here is where I am with your situation, cause, TBH, I get a lot of the calls you made. Why do you guys do that? The patient is out of your facility, you can't do anything about it. Is it just personal interest, or something (what I've always attributed it too) like........you want to be able to answer family questions if they call your facility?

It has already been stated in this thread that LTC facilities call for the diagnosis because it is required for their documentation. I am not positive that this is a legitimate reason or not; however. . .

Reason I ask is, I get.........eh........weird when you guys call me. I'm not rude but, I'm vague to the point of almost being rude (I think). I answer these calls with an almost prepared statement: "Oh, they are great, thanks for calling. In bed, home meds ordered and being looked at. Have a nice day."

Now, you are probably wanting to ask me "why?". Well, TBH, those phone calls make me more than a little bit nervous. I'd love for anyone who is good at dissecting HIPAA from a legal standpoint chime in here. Is this, answering your questions, a HIPAA violation? Have we as nurses gotten used to making the calls you make simply because.........we have not been caught yet, not because they are OK?

Per my understanding, HIPAA is designed to facilitate continuity of care, not to discourage it. I could be wrong; however, the initial dilemma presented by the OP was in regard to their perception of rude and unprofessional behavior received from their fellow health care colleagues. In my opinion, irrespective of your interpretation of HIPAA, the response to the caller should be representative of the professionals that we are. Per the OP's description of events, professional behavior was not exhibited in the interaction.

[Forever Sunshine, ASN, RN]

Ha ha, this is kinda funny actually. In another thread, I kinda called out LTC nurses and told them to educate people in other fields about what it is they do and how it does actually use nursing skills. Someone in the thread made a comment to the effect of "LTC nurses have nothing to teach".

Anyway, that's kinda off topic. I'm just laughing cause, now I need teaching. Kinda Deja-vu-ish.

Here is where I am with your situation, cause, TBH, I get a lot of the calls you made. Why do you guys do that? The patient is out of your facility, you can't do anything about it. Is it just personal interest, or something (what I've always attributed it too) like........you want to be able to answer family questions if they call your facility?

Reason I ask is, I get.........eh........weird when you guys call me. I'm not rude but, I'm vague to the point of almost being rude (I think). I answer these calls with an almost prepared statement: "Oh, they are great, thanks for calling. In bed, home meds ordered and being looked at. Have a nice day."

Now, you are probably wanting to ask me "why?". Well, TBH, those phone calls make me more than a little bit nervous. I'd love for anyone who is good at dissecting HIPAA from a legal standpoint chime in here. Is this, answering your questions, a HIPAA violation? Have we as nurses gotten used to making the calls you make simply because.........we have not been caught yet, not because they are OK?

My first impression is that yes, it is. You are no longer part of the "care team" because, well..........you are not working in the facility they are CURRENTLY admitted to. Sooooo.............should I be talking to you?

I know, I know......I have a very vivid imagination but I can see myself being in a situation where a LTC nurse calls for info because she wants to play CYA..............changes documentation or w/e to eliminate errors that were made. Then, the whole thing blows up and I am hung out to dry for having talked to you.

OK, a little bit paranoid there but you get my meaning. So, educate me. Why do you guys make this call anyway knowing............it may be a HIPAA violation? Or am I just way off with interpreting it as a violation?

We need to document the admitting diagnosis and time of admission when transferred to another facility in a nurses note. Thats our resident.. we need to know whats going on with them also. Facility's policy. I'm not asking for day-to-day updates but when they are admitted we contact them(sometimes they contact us and if they pass away the hospital also calls us). But if they refused to give me the information..(politely)... I would just of course document that and make my supervisor and DON aware. Impolitely, I would also be making the supervisor and DON aware of their attitude as well as their refusal to inform me of the admitting diagnosis.

Ok this isn't about making the call or whats being discussed.. its how we are treating each other.. as professionals on the phone.. and those nurses I talked to yesterday.. were not very professional.

[Forever Sunshine, ASN, RN]

It has already been stated in this thread that LTC facilities call for the diagnosis because it is required for their documentation. I am not positive that this is a legitimate reason or not; however. . .

Per my understanding, HIPAA is designed to facilitate continuity of care, not to discourage it. I could be wrong; however, the initial dilemma presented by the OP was in regard to their perception of rude and unprofessional behavior received from their fellow health care colleagues. In my opinion, irrespective of your interpretation of HIPAA, the response to the caller should be representative of the professionals that we are. Per the OP's description of events, professional behavior was not exhibited in the interaction.

Thank you. That is my point here.

I'm not asking for a bow or to be addressed "your majesty" but a "hello" and "goodbye" would be appropriate.

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

If that's your "facility's policy," I think it's messed up, and here's why:

The documentation that SHOULD be required by your facility is WHY you sent the patient out (ie, sats in the 70's, etc), and what TIME you sent them out. The time they were ADMITTED doesn't matter, that has to do with how long they were in the ER. Has nothing to do with you. Admitting dx? Again, doesn't matter....what your concern should be is the DISCHARGE dx (which can differ), since that is the reason for READMISSION to your facility.

I agree with eriksoln......the contact person for the patient is a family member, NOT YOU. It's not continuing care at that point, you aren't caring for them. When they are discharged from the hospital, THEN you have a right to info for continuing care. Some might call it splitting hairs. It's true, though. I regularly got phone calls from LTC's when I had their patients on the floor, but honestly, they seemed to be calling mostly out of curiosity (as often, it was several days in to their hospitalization). The only question I would feel comfortable answering was if they were going to be discharged that day (and probably shouldn't have even answered that, as case management would take care of arrangements if they were).

Does that make it ok for staff to be rude on the phone? Of course not. I don't condone that. But I would view that call as no different than having the 9th family member of the day calling for info that I cannot give them.