You Could Have Gagged Me With A Gallup Poll!!!

Nurses General Nursing

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I work at a medium sized hospital that belongs to a huge corporation.For anonymity sake I wont say much more than that because I believe several of my sisters in scrubs also post here.I think many of you will know what company I am talking about when I finish.

We took (mandatory) part in as survey conducted by Gallup early this year,just as we have for several years past.The questions sample like this

"do you feel like someone at work cares about you or values your opinion?"

The grid of answers to the questions was very negative throughout the facility,so each individual unit had mandatory meetings with the unit manager and vp of nursing,just for them to tell us that we had ALL misinterpreted the questions and answered them wrong. We were then coached on how to answer the questions and told that the poll will be repeated.

Now.I am a patient person and I consider myself to be a good nurse,but when you ask me if it sucks, I am going to tell you if I think it does.

I can see through my manager saying that "we appreciate the good quality care that the team provides our patients" when she really means to say"you all are going to run your behinds off,work short with long acuity,and I don't want to hear about it"

So,i am again going to speak my heart during this poll,fat lot of good it does.

Do any of your hospitals use this Gallup poll, and what do you think of it?

Specializes in GI,Rehab, Ortho/Neuro.

We had the same survey this year. It was a waste of time imho. The push button answers do not get to the heart of the problem~ over worked, understaffed, etc... Still have yet to see any result from answering the gallop poll... Don't know if I will wait around to find out either.

OMG!!! One of the psych facilities here in town did the same thing...

not only did they tell the nurses they'd answered the questions wrong, but they hired another administrator to find out WHY!

And this place already has 1:1 ratio of administrators to nurses...

:) And they wonder why the nurses are unhappy!

Our hospital has done a yearly "sensing" survey for the past 3 years. Each year (all) the employees state their concerns....too many chiefs, not enough Indians; healthcare benefits are limited; parking is bad; etc., etc., etc. Last year was the first year the "Bosses" heard us and they fired 2 VP's. Sometimes it just takes time.

As for being "coached" on your answers...I would suggest you contact the Gallup people and let them in on the little plot. They are a well-respected survey firm and probably wont appreciate their name connected to such practices.

Originally posted by Gomer

As for being "coached" on your answers...I would suggest you contact the Gallup people and let them in on the little plot. They are a well-respected survey firm and probably wont appreciate their name connected to such practices.

Excellent suggestion, Gomer. I second that.
Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

FullMoon--and while you're at it, if you happen to know a local newspaper reporter who is looking for a story....

The community hospital that I work in also does one of those "survey's" each year...What a joke!! And the worse part is that when they present the results its hard to believe that everyone is that happy!! I don't believe a word of it. All you have to do is spend a day out on the nursing units to know how everyone really feels!~!!! Linda

Specializes in Hospice, Critical Care.

OMG! My facility is currently doing an "employee opinion" survey. Results will be done in January. It's not a "gallup" poll; I forget the company who put it together. Questions were to be answered in two parts:

(1) How well does the organization meet your expectations regarding {whatever the question or issue was}? Answers ranged from "Well below expectations" to "Well Above expectations."

(2) How important is this particular item to you? Answers ranged from "Not Important at All" to "Absolutely Critical."

Many people did not understand HOW to complete the survey. I overheard someone say they didn't understand it at all and just selected all the "middle" answers for every question! (Not a nurse.)

I cannot imagine anything coming out of this survey. Except a few memos and maybe a meeting with our Unit Manager.

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

Zee--The surveys are done for one reason only--in hopes the results will be good PR for the facility (and thus, for the career of the suit who thought of it). They are done for NO other reason, regardless of the offered rationale.

My ownly surprise is that they would pay a pricey group like Gallup to do the survey, since there are many cheaper ones. Oops, I forgot. The money is going for consultation and advertising, not adequate staffing, so in that case administrators consider it to be well spent.

Administration already knows the REAL problems (just who do you think CREATED most of them?), they don't need no stinkin' survey to figure out what is going on.

IMHO.

Specializes in CV-ICU.

"Administration already knows the REAL problems (just who do you think CREATED most of them?), they don't need no stinkin' survey to figure out what is going on."

Ditto, Sjoe. But they still want us to think we have some input!

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

What we would get were MSN and DN student "projects." The questions were pretty much OK but the anonymity was farcical.

No names of course. However, AGE, SEX, RACE, JOB TITLE, POSITION ON CLINICAL LADDER, YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, YEARS EMPLOYED HERE, UNIT, POSITION ON UNIT

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

What we would get were MSN and DN student "projects." The questions were pretty much OK but the anonymity was farcical.

No names of course. However, AGE, SEX, RACE, JOB TITLE, POSITION ON CLINICAL LADDER, YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, YEARS EMPLOYED HERE, UNIT, POSITION ON UNIT etc. were the"control information" included in the report to the facility.

Oh well, the truth shall set you free....... I always answered it all truthfully so I guess the results were at least a LITTLE less skewed.

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