Tipped?

Specialties Emergency

Published

This was too funny ... I had a patient on Saturday who was VERY high maintenance -- literally screaming (in my ear, ouch) in pain. Screaming. My charge nurse thought she was a psych patient! In any case, I took care of her pain, and her. After she was discharged, I took her by wheelchair and helped her into her husband's truck. Then her husband followed me back to the door, pulling out his wallet as he walked after me. He pulled out a $50 and tried to hand it to me, I couldn't believe it! LOL!! I've never had anyone try to tip me before. Of course, I didn't accept it. He kept trying to hand it to me, and I explained that we couldn't accept money, but that his offering it was nice in itself. (I shoulda told him to buy us all pizza with it, but I didn't think of that until later ... oh well!)

My husband is a tattoo artist, and he gets tips all the time ... but this was the first time someone tried to tip me! :D

Specializes in Emergency.

Oh God, I would never get paid. My pts are indignet and unemployed and uninsured. My pts don't bath. My pts don't eat out, tip waiters, let alone tip nurses. God help me, I would never get paid!!

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, ICU/CCU/NICU, EMS, Transport.
Thanks, I almost snorked my coffee! coffeecup.gif LOL

heh, heh, you said "snorked"!!!:up:

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, ICU/CCU/NICU, EMS, Transport.
Oh God, I would never get paid. My pts are indignet and unemployed and uninsured. My pts don't bath. My pts don't eat out, tip waiters, let alone tip nurses. God help me, I would never get paid!!

true 'dat

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Specializes in ED, Flight.
Oh God, I would never get paid. My pts are indignet and unemployed and uninsured. My pts don't bath. My pts don't eat out, tip waiters, let alone tip nurses. God help me, I would never get paid!!

Ditto, more than 50% of the time.

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OK I'll bite; unethical to accept tip pursuant to board of regulation in nursing. Critically thinking; pt comes for a return visit, or brings in a family member and asks for "... that nice nurse that I gave a big tip to last time I was here." Do I now owe them more of my attention based on being indebted to the tipper? What about my other patients; will they feel slighted? Or will they sue me because I took better care of my big tipper? If big tipper guy came drug seeking, would he think I would be more willing to help his cause? What about co=workers? Will we all start grabbing up the likely big tipper patients and ignoring the homeless person who truly needs our attention?

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Specializes in ER.

I don't want tipping to be a factor in my care. I don't want anyone to feel obligated to tip when they are having one of the worst days of their life, and I don't want to have to calculate tips and entitlement as part of my nursing priorities. It's hard enough juggling patients based on acuities. Don't tell me that tips won't be a factor in quality of care. PG survey results have people twisting themselves in knots- cold hard cash will make it even worse. I know nurses that request flat out that patients write their names on the survey, and spend extra face time with patients that agree. What about the confused, the indigent, the families going through a crisis? They don't need the extra hassle IMO.

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Specializes in Medical Surgical.

Absolutely, canoehead. That's one of the HUGE flaws with Press Ganey. If I have one patient who is A/O and will fill out a survey, and one who is out of it with no family members, which one does PG say to give the attention to? Huh-uh, no. Care goes to those who need it; that is nursing. I am NOT a customer service technician.

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

MWBoswell, I think you didn't get reactions right away because, the idea of nurses working for tips like waitresses is just viscerally offensive and the "why" isn't immediately clear. But it's probably because waiters, porters, cab drivers, guys that dry our cars, and manicurists are tipped, doctors, teachers, managers, and other professionals aren't and we fit into the second category.

However, things that used to be huge "no-no"s back in the misty eons(cue 1970s nostalgia) are commonplace, (OK, here I go) Doctors would not advertise, Pharmaceuticals would not make up catchy names for stuff and hawk it via TV, Patients wouldn't wear diapers, and grown men would not appear on Carl's Jr. commercials eating with their mouth open and food hanging out of their mouth.

If the younger nurses don't see a problem with it, it will become reality eventually. Just the way things, evolve, I guess.

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, ICU/CCU/NICU, EMS, Transport.
Absolutely, canoehead. That's one of the HUGE flaws with Press Ganey. If I have one patient who is A/O and will fill out a survey, and one who is out of it with no family members, which one does PG say to give the attention to? Huh-uh, no. Care goes to those who need it; that is nursing. I am NOT a customer service technician.

I don't know if I understand when you say "which one does PG say to give the attention to?"....

Side note: When patients and families were surveyed in a research study, the #1 thing they most often reported that made the difference in "quality of care" was simply explaining things to them, it wasn't the amount of time spent, it wasn't the food/drinks/blankets/TV's; it was merely the health care worker telling them what was going on.

When you give good nursing care to those who need it, you ARE giving good customer service - it's inevitable.

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Specializes in ICU, ER.

I once was offered $5 as I was discharging (ER) an elderly man. It almost put tears in my eyes.

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Specializes in ER.
I don't know if I understand when you say "which one does PG say to give the attention to?".....

If I was working for PG scores I'd spend my time with the alert and oriented patients that would remember my name, and forget about confused patients, or elderly without families. I would give lots of pain meds, and neglect ambulation, and deep breathing and coughing. I'd provide the diabetics with soft drinks and ice cream, and fluff pillows and bend straws without encouraging independence. My patients would get pneumonia and bedsores, and later die in the ICU, but they would THINK I was a fabulous, caring nurse.

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Specializes in Emergency.

Don't know about all hospitals, but ours only sends PG surveys to pts that were discharged home. Helloooo, that means the sick ones that we spend more of our time with and taking care of don't get surveys, they get admitted. The life sucking trolls with toothaches and STDS who go home after IM rocephin get to evaluate me!!

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