treatment of "vip's"

northshore08 · Apr 29, 2008

Don't fuss at the charge nurses for pushing the agenda; they are only doing what they are told by administration. Unfortunately, that's who signs our paychecks. I've seen the board member who throws fits in triage or in front of the nurses station, and I've had to "find a bed" for the "doctor's wife" with the migraine. I've been the charge nurse who had to tell administration sorry but you will have to come take care of this situation--we are slammed and my staff doen't have time or space for this today. It helps if you can get the ED MD to get on the phone and support the cause. In those situations we have had nursing administration support to come take these VIPs away to a more available area for treatment, or to care for them in the ED. As charge I would NEVER ask the triage nurse to bed a VIP in front of the rest of the waiting area..I would go get them myself, and allow the triage nurse the benefit to telling the waiting area that s/he couldn't help it, the charge nurse did it.

But it's nice when the REALLY SICK patient's family finds out their bed was given to a not-so-sick VIP....they raise their voices with administration! Course, they heard it all while their family member was being boarded in the hall. Sorry, but we can't always give everybody total privacy in the ED, can we....

UtErRnEmt · Apr 29, 2008

thanks everyone . maybe one day the vip's will open hospital usa that they teach us about in nursing school where there is extra staff in the wings to get us thru a brown nosing crisis

ikimiwi · Apr 29, 2008

I treat every one the best I can , like all of you, but I think that if you work in the hospital, from housekeeper to adminstration and you come to the Ed ,if at all possible, I am not going to make you wait. There is little benefits to working in the medical community, and of courseyou wont get in before critically ill pts, but there usually is a way to get them in. That said, my brother sat for 4 hours in the wr last week, because patients we literally dropping like flies! And if you are ER staff, no waiting. Now the little old lady who tells me her family donates lots of money and she is not going to wait, gets a nice smile , out to the waiting room with a promise I will get her in as soon as I possibly can.

Knoodsen · Apr 29, 2008

I am currently employed by two unrelated hospitals. Both of them got into trouble; I think it was something about stealing our tax dollars via medicare and medicaid. The punishment for the administrators and physicians involved consists of forcing me to spend some of my valuable time attending "ethics training". VIP treatment just is not ethical. We either "take care of the sickest patients first" or we don't. And, there was major money involved as well. Working short seems to be the newest best idea.

Knoodsen · Apr 29, 2008

Please allow me to add this thought. (I appreciate greatly the contributions on this thread.) I am reminded of how pathetic most of these weaklings are. Sanity requires "little victories".

schizo_maja · Apr 30, 2008

hmmm... I love working in a city hospital where the VIP's won't be coming here as planned or as wanted, extreme emergency maybe like dead or actively dying perhaps...

even employees who works here wants to be seen first... even house keeping for crying out loud... but its my triage, i do my job well if i triage patients according to severity index rather than "office/position index" so,after I'm done with anyone my usual line would be "go to the next window for registration and the doc will call you from the waiting area" if someone from my shift will pick their chart and ask one of my doc to see them 1st it them not me.... I hate kiss ass...

as an employee would I wanna be seen 1st? nope. i won't go to my hospital where people know me, I'd rather wait in another facility and be treated accordingly...