vip floor in a hospital

klone, MSN, RN · Jul 19, 2011

We have a few VIP suites on the top floor. It costs $1200/night, and it buys you a private nurse and room service with food that's NOT on regular menu.

For our unit, the VIP suite is used once every couple months. Usually it's the wife of a professional athlete or wealthy CEO.

It kind of messes with our staffing because we have to pull one of the nurses to take care of just that mother and baby. She can't leave the unit, and sits at a small desk outside the suite. Whenever we have someone in the VIP suite, none of the nurses want that assignment.

Sue Damonas, BSN · Jul 19, 2011

Years ago we have a unit like that, it was referred to as "The Gold Coast". The rooms were suites. There was a physician who would bring his pts there and would literally have happy hour everyday with his pts. The physician was obviously inebriated everyday, didn't know how to write orders. The hospital never did anything about him because he brought in a lot of money from his wealthy pts.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Jul 19, 2011

Agree with those who avoid VIPs if at all possible....I found that most of the actual VIPs were pretty nice- it was their entourage/assistants that were arrogant SOBs.... JMHO.... and an entire FLOOR??? Good Lord, no. :)

PediNurse3 · Jul 19, 2011

No one should be treated better than another based on how much $$$$/fame they have. Makes me sick.

Really? A previous poster mentioned that these rooms at her hospital were cash only--what is wrong with five-star service if you're paying for it? I am pretty sure that these VIPs don't receive their care for free.

Of course everybody deserves to have their needs met, but the sad reality is that quite often, patient loads are often heavy and nurses are BUSY. My father recently had a total knee replacemnet and spent the standard 4 days/3 nights in the hospital and the care that he got SUCKED. His foot pump things alarmed for hours, he (I) had to call multiple times for pain medication, he got left sitting in a chair, call light out of reach for an hour and a half after he was ready to get back into bed, he was discharged home without a walker/ potty chair/ shower chair at home, there was no teaching and return demonstration on how to give Lovenox, I could go on and on...an absolute disgrace, and for me to say that being a nurse myself says a LOT. Can you imagine the damage that could be done and the money that could be lost if someone considered infuential or a big donor was treated that way? While I completely agree that everyone DESERVES the same standard of care, I can see why the higher ups want to ensure that the VIPs actually receive it.

casi, ASN, RN · Jul 19, 2011

What happens to these patients when they have to transfer to a specialty floor if they have a change in condition?

Katie5 · Jul 19, 2011

No one should be treated better than another based on how much $$$$/fame they have. Makes me sick.

True. But they are assigned the same nurses as any other patients, not some nurse with special powers. Look at it this way.

You probably have a great looking car( Jag maybe:), but you also also drive this great looking car on the same road as someone with a not-so great looking car. See you both drive on the same road, bumps, potholes and all- the only difference is that you have a better looking/driving car with possibly a better hydraulic to bear the pains of the road.

Look at the VIP that way.They are in the same hospital with the same nurses as any other patients, they just pay more for comfort.

The shame would be on the nurse who treats one patient differently because of the wealth he or she has as opposed to the patient who has less or no insurance. Excellent care is(or should be) excellent care without money as leverage.

Rob72, ASN, RN · Jul 19, 2011

What happens to these patients when they have to transfer to a specialty floor if they have a change in condition?

Aside from locked psych, there is not really anything that can't be done on these floors. You can run a vent, drain a bag, hang meds over marble just as easily as linoleum. Traction units are typically on beds, now, and you can dress burns in a private room with an individual air-handler pretty effectively.

Entitled A-holes populate every floor of every hospital, some have money, some do not...

Wealth-envy snobbery is just as bad as being a Silver Spooner. :cool:

ChocoholicRN · Jul 19, 2011

What happens to these patients when they have to transfer to a specialty floor if they have a change in condition?

This actually happened where I work. A patient was sent to the rehab floor in a different area of the hospital where the rehab is very aggressive and the gyms and therapists are very close to the rehab floor. This patient wanted to be on the VIP floor and eventually got his/her way, but rehab was effected because the patient was not able to get to the gym for the allotted amount of time and the therapists could not do the necessary activities from the patients VIP room. It was a P.I.T.A for all staff involved. Again, I don't like working on this floor or dealing with these types of patients when they are on other floors. Everyone gets the same level of care from me whether you live in a box on the street or a million dollar home.

nyrn5125 · Jul 19, 2011

we have private rooms and of course they think private room means private nurse/slave.they even try to throw it at you that they are paying more so they should be treated better than the other patients. families are extremely demanding to begin with because of the surrounding town being wealthy. I always politely explain that they have paid to be in a single room and no more than a single room. if a private duty nurse is what they would like they can request it which will come with an extra fee. have taken care of many judges/lawyers/rich rich people and will never treat any pt better than the other. don't care who you are or how much $$$ you have

casi, ASN, RN · Jul 19, 2011

Aside from locked psych, there is not really anything that can't be done on these floors. You can run a vent, drain a bag, hang meds over marble just as easily as linoleum. Traction units are typically on beds, now, and you can dress burns in a private room with an individual air-handler pretty effectively.
Entitled A-holes populate every floor of every hospital, some have money, some do not...
Wealth-envy snobbery is just as bad as being a Silver Spooner.

See I wouldn't want to be the nurse on a VIP floor with a vented patient on multiple cardiac drips that probably doesn't have the correct machinery to monitor the patient as it occasionally beeps and wakes the sleeping family member up during the night, or interrupts their soap operas. Also you probably don't have the highly trained staff you would have in the ICU as an immediate backup.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Jul 19, 2011

I detest the whole concept of someone getting better care because of some perceived status (theirs or public). A sick person deserves the best care possible- and YES, I know it costs money. If a VIP is that demanding, they can get a nurse from an agency to come to the house..... :)

allnurses Guide · Jul 19, 2011

I worked on the "VIP" floor of our local Children's Hospital, the only opening available at that particular time, but I dreaded it. I'm just not the type for that. All of the rooms were private, carpeted and large enough to accomodate a pretty comfortable daybed.

The emphasis there was more on privacy as opposed to cushy amenities. It turned out that very few VIPs were admitted there but since the floor was right across the breeze-way from dialysis we had a full house of kidney dx kids and I loved it!!

There were a few apparently VIP people, by far the most demanding and obnoxious patient was one of the interns!! What a whiner! He should never have been admitted at all but I guess everyone else got tired of listening to him whine so they caved in. Give me a 7 year-old Lord, please? :)