Why the Customer Service emphasis?

Nurses General Nursing

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I am always told/hearing that we have to provide good customer service/service excellence to our patients/clients BECAUSE they have other choices as far as hospitals go.

But honestly, if Hospital A fills up, it's not like hospital B is not going to take the leftover patients.

Why is there "competition" between hospitals? One would think there would be a bed waiting whereever one wanted to go -- or not, and that clients/patients would just have to go where their doctors assigned them?

I mean -- we are in a large city and we have only so many hospitals anyway. It's not like our so-called "healthcare consumers" have all that many choices.

Why all this brou-ha ha about having to "please" all of these patients like they're discriminating customers? I mean -- it's not a retail chain.

I just don't get it. People should be happy to go anywhere and get decent healthcare from good doctors, in a clean facility. This is all I have EVER expected as a patient in a hospital myself. Just clean surroundings and safe care. I've never needed to be waited on, coddled, or "pleased." I"ve expected to live, and get out healthy. That's about all.

Our hospital wants to be the BEST - well, how about allowing that hospital on the other side of town to be excellent and the BEST as well? What's wrong with allowing all hospitals to provide good decent care and let it go at that?

Don't know what i'm trying to say -- but this customer service emphasis just doesn't JIVE with what a hospital is supposed to be and do.

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Specializes in orthopaedics.

sadly it's come to a point where it is all about the customer satisfaction scores. nevermind the working conditions for the nurses, verbal and physical abuse we endure. the sub par pay.

they are spending millions on finding out how to please the "customer" instead of rewarding nurses for their excellent care during high ratios double time and overtime.

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I've just got to ask why. Whose kooky idea was it to do this to hospitals and to nurses/docs/healthcare workers? Who profits, if anyone, from it?

Doesn't seem to me that anyone benefits in the long run if their nurse isn't taken care of, if we don't have the pertinent equipment, etc.

I just don't get it.

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

Customer service is there because many people, including Medicare recipients, DO have choices. And insurance companies chose who will be in their network, and how much the contracts are worth, depending on service (they don't want complaints from the insured). Customer service indicates you CARE. That said, I find it difficult to balance rude patients/families with good customer service. A little appreciation goes a long way.

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it will always be about potential revenue.

always.

and it's the ceo's who reap these profits...

and of course, we can't forget those who receive bonuses:

again, mgmt/admin.

the bottom line is, top brass doesn't give a darn about who's making it work.

their only concerns are that it just continues to work.

we are only the lowly work-horses.

time for a loud, echoing, "NAYYYYYYYYYYYYY"?

leslie

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

MONEY, MONEY,MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. Repeat after me...

That's ALL it is about. It's about giving that patient or shall I say client, the butt-kissing customer service experience so they bring their sick behinds to that particular hospital.

The last hospital I worked in (large suburban hospital in RO, Michigan) had a wonderful mandatory meeting about "how to make the doctors happy so that they bring their patients to the hospital"...It was quite a demeaning meeting to say the least and they wonder why so many nurses are leaving.

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Specializes in ICU.

You know, if nurses could get a 15% tip, we may just find it in us to be as accommodating as any patient could desire. :) My mom actually had a little old patient who handed her a napkin with her name on it as she was leaving and folded up in side it was a $5 bill. So cute!

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.
You know, if nurses could get a 15% tip, we may just find it in us to be as accommodating as any patient could desire. :) My mom actually had a little old patient who handed her a napkin with her name on it as she was leaving and folded up in side it was a $5 bill. So cute!

I got a lovely card from my manager today. It was actually from a patient I had last week. I took care of him for three nights. He was a wonderful gentleman, 81 yo and had a hip revision done and was in ICU for monitoring because his hemoglobin was low. The card was very nice. He also gave me ten dollars too which was nice but unnecessary.

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Specializes in Critical Care,Recovery, ED.

Let's see 15% of say a $10,000 hospital bill.... not a bad idea.

Seriously though, hospitals are a business and many patients do have choices. A dissatisfied patient/client will probably not come back, or tell other people not to use that hospital. That is potentially significantly lost revenue. And that is revenue that does pay our salaries.

About the administrators teaching about making the MDs happy. They should be reminded that they can have a facility with/without unhappy MDs, but they can't have a facility without RNs. Try making the RNs happy for a change.

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Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.

I really think people need to stop looking at customer service as a burden, and remember how we all want our families treated.

It isn't about fluffy robes, and gourmet meals. Its about shutting the door when your patient is on the commode, and treating them like a person and not a burden.

Stop grouping some VIP who ****** you off and how your manager treated you about, in with common caring and courtesy care.

Tait

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It's all about the mighty buck. I'd rather money from survery go to hiring more staff as that is what would really help out. A patient who waits 4 hours in the ER to be seen is going to be royally mad no matter what. They won't remember the nice nurse who helped them out or the kindly doctor who ordered testing and meds to get them better. They remember their wait and frankly, I don't think anyone in pain should have to wait for hourse but they do again and again.

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I really think people need to stop looking at customer service as a burden, and remember how we all want our families treated.

It isn't about fluffy robes, and gourmet meals. Its about shutting the door when your patient is on the commode, and treating them like a person and not a burden.

Stop grouping some VIP who ****** you off and how your manager treated you about, in with common caring and courtesy care.

Tait

Customer service goes beyond what you've described as "common caring and courtesy care." Some hospitals put such an emphasis on decor, uniformed staff, meals-on-demand, etc. that decent care goes out the window. I've seen it happen at the hospitals in my town. "Here, nurses. Care for these 9 patients. Don't screw up. And by God make sure you do it all with a smile."

Higher ups don't seem too concerned about safety, just whether someone spoke kindly to you while they were making an error because of unsafe staffing.

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