VIP Patients

Is it me or does it annoy you when the manager/charge nurse comes into report and announces that their is a VIP Pt on the floor. I treat all my pts. the same whether they are a crack head or a microsoft exec. Some times it makes me uncomfortable once I find out they are VIP because I'm too busy worring about offending them. I just think VIP status is a crock in the health care field. All our pts should be getting the same care.....even though that's not how it goes a lot of time.

I love how our charge nurse responds to that type of report, "In this hospital, all the patients are VIP's." And she's right. :yelclap:

Exactly. Every pt. that comes through the door should be treated with the best care and consideration. I cannot stand when we have a supposed "vip" pt., all it means is that admin. is going to be in every visiting hour and we will spend a lot playing politics than being able to provide pt. care.

I agree with the majority on this one. It makes me mad when management expects you to treat one person better than another and on top of that, the pt gets the idea that everyone is going to wait on them hand and foot. I especially love it when I follow a co-worker who has set the bar so high by bowing and fetching that I just know I'm not going to measure up.

It's unethical. Totally. Especially if you consider that the request to give someone "extra care" implies that we are not already giving the best care we can to every patient. And if we are, then we will need to short-change other patients to provide extra service to one patient. The only way patients should be classified is by acuity. The sicker they are, the more "care" they get. I absolutely refuse to kiss anybody's rear because they are someone's dad, a judge, whatever. I have worked at 2 hospitals, 1 large in a metropolitan area, and 1 small in a semi-rural area. This has cropped up more often in the smaller hospital. We have a lot of patients in ICU "because he's so and so's Dad." BTW, this was discussed here a few months ago - there were some interesting situations.Jen

I totally agree with the posters above. Everyone gets -->the same

I work at a hospital where there is this family who are considered VIP because they give money. I have seen "regular" pt's get bumped from appts because these VIPS are having a back ache or somethings trivial. May I add that these "regular" people range from cancer pt's to young children. It makes me so mad because these people are so rude and they complain if you don't kiss their butts good enough. What makes me even more mad is that we don't accept their insurance but we take them anyway and eat the bill, but if someone didn't have money they need to pay up front for their study. I mean come on they have the money they should either pay for it or go to where their insurance is accepted. I am sorry it makes me mad because I don't feel that VIP pt's should be treated any better then another. Thanks for letting me vent on the subject :angryfire

VIPs with real class don't expect special care..but i have dealt with people who were so full of themselves that finally they had to be told that if they felt that they needed one on one nursing then they must hire private duty nurses

i once worked in a catholic hospital ** when the archbishop was attempted we were deluged with nuns and priests... probably wore out the old fellow just dealing with the visitors...but the bad part of it was they asked [demanded] that the nurses share all parts of care with them and if they felt that he was getting slipshod they raised cain

whether it was slipshod or not -believe me eveyone was on their toes- he got good care