The management at my place of employment recently hired a group of nurses who are all youngish, slim, and physically attractive as a response to declining patient satisfaction scores. Is the solution working? We can only wait and see.
My workplace, a freestanding specialty hospital owned by a for-profit corporation that operates multiple facilities across the United States, has been having recent troubles with low Press Ganey patient satisfaction scores. This does not bode well in an era where patient satisfaction scores are tied to Medicare reimbursement rates.
Patients typically complain on the survey forms about random issues such as the food, the semiprivate rooms, their loud roommates, and the aloof manner of some of the physicians. Some mention that nursing staff failed to keep them informed. Once in a blue moon a patient comments that the hospital employs too many 'foreign nurses' or has staff who cannot 'speak English.' Whatever.
To combat the chronically low patient satisfaction scores, the managerial staff implemented a mix of interventions which they believed would make patients and families feel more 'cared for.' Hourly rounds, bedside rounding at the change of shift, more scripting, and more smiles have been put into action without much positive effect on the Press Ganey scores.
"What was management's next solution?" you're probably wondering. Administration announced they were hiring good people who were more friendly, skilled, positive, and indicated during their interviews that they actually wanted to care for patients. Well, the latest new hires have initiated more questions than answers.
Where do I start? They are all youngish, ranging from early 20s to early 30s. They are all fairly slim, nicely shaped, and physically attractive. The most experienced new hire has about six years of nursing experience, while the remaining nurses have anywhere from one to three years under their belts. The majority have no acute care experience and are learning certain procedural skills for the very first time: starting peripheral IV access, administering blood, performing wound care, operating feeding tube pumps, and so forth.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not an 'old nurse' who is 'eating the young.' I am 32 years old with seven years of experience, and I had no acute care experience prior to taking a job at this facility several years ago. The new hires all have good personalities and are seemingly pleasant to work with. In addition, we all must start somewhere.
However, they are not necessarily more skilled or more eager to care for patients like management said they would be. Several of these nurses remain seated at the nurses station while staring into a smart phone as call lights are ringing. A few walk into patient rooms without employing basic relational skills such as knocking, introducing themselves, or explaining what they are planning to do. I'm not complaining; I'm merely observing.
Here are my thoughts on this issue. Rather than hire a mix of highly experienced and relatively inexperienced nurses, the managerial staff opted to save on labor costs by hiring younger nurses with a certain attractive look that patients and families might find appealing. They hired no new grads because, I assume, they did not want to spend the staggering amount of money on 3-month orientation periods. They hired no one with 15, 20, 25, or 30+ years of experience because human resources would be forced to offer highly experienced nurses a significantly higher rate of pay per the wage grid. They hired no nurses who were badly overweight, gray-haired, or outwardly appeared to have health problems that would drive up insurance costs. To presumably get the most bang for their buck, most of the new hires have between one and three years of experience.
How is this experiment turning out? We shall wait and see.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
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And I KNOW her life experience. She had me very young so in the 24 years I've been alive not much more had happened than when she was my age.
You know some of what your mother has experienced, but you really can't know what someone else has experienced in their life unless you've lived it yourself. Especially considering you were a child and children have a very limited ability to understand adult concepts.
Even if you were to dismiss the above and claim to be almost impossibly mature for your age when you were a kid, some people --the quietest, most unassuming of us all-- have experienced more life in the calm-appearing length of their existence than folks who have the craziest stories.
It isn't always the person who has written the tell-all book that has the most intense stories to tell. Often, it's the opposite.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
This thread has been heavily edited over the last couple of pages.....the subject of this post is Commuters place of employment hiring "young, attractive" nurses to boost scores and not hiring the best candidate for the position. I personally have no issue with hiring a beautiful staff as long as they are intellectually the best of the best.
You know some of what your mother has experienced, but you really can't know what someone else has experienced in their life unless you've lived it yourself. Especially considering you were a child and children have a very limited ability to understand adult concepts.
Even if you were to dismiss the above and claim to be almost impossibly mature for your age when you were a kid, some people --the quietest, most unassuming of us all-- have experienced more life in the calm-appearing length of their existence than folks who have the craziest stories.
It isn't always the person who has written the tell-all book that has the most intense stories to tell. Often, it's the opposite.
I don't care how old/young, fat/skinny, new/experienced you are. What MATTERS is that in a pinch situation, you know what you are doing and how to intervene using your God-given common sense. I have worked along side nurses who have been, as a common phrase in this thread has been, "nurses longer than I have been alive" who have ZERO skills in a stressful situation as well as seasoned nurses that have literally had to shove a physician out of the way to "assist" with a difficult intubation. The same is true for new nurses. I have been next to some who have excellent skills and some that are clueless. The advancement of our profession requires that we all stand up for each other, acknowledge our faults and applaud our strengths. This very vile intaprofessional discrimination in both directions is quite disheartening. As nurses, I would expect all of us to hold ourselves to a higher standard then this needless bickering.
Some hiring decisions I'm sure are made because the candidate is "like" the person hiring them, or the person interviewing them. Example, my manager is skinny, cute, and has a baby voice. She hires a lot of skinny, cute girls with baby voices. At one point the night shift had so many baby voices the hospitalist would say "didn't I JUST talk to you five minutes ago? Why are you waking me up again?!"
Anyway, back on topic, sort of. I wonder if these new hires, will eventually get weeded out by their own unhappiness. Some of their behaviors, being on the phone when call lights are going off, smacks of unhappiness to me AND inexperience (Don't read into this word. I'm not saying new grad. As a reminder this OP was NOT about new grads. I feel like reading comprehension fell by the wayside when it became old nurses vs new grads.)
It's not until someone has a heart attack, when they've been on their call light for thirty minutes, and they are at fault for neglect, that they'll learn their lesson. I dunno. I have to think these problem hires are self-limiting.
Some hiring decisions I'm sure are made because the candidate is "like" the person hiring them or the person interviewing them. Example, my manager is skinny, cute, and has a baby voice. She hires a lot of skinny, cute girls with baby voices. At one point the night shift had so many baby voices the hospitalist would say "didn't I JUST talk to you five minutes ago? Why are you waking me up again?!"[/quote']
^
This happens MOST of the time...sometimes people in charge of hiring get into a mode of hiring their "likeness"....until they find out they are not like them at all...seen that as well!!!
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
Thread reopened . There has been a lively debate with a lot of insight from our members. This is a final, gentle reminder from staff to please stay on topic.
This thread has been heavily edited over the last couple of pages.....the subject of this post is Commuters place of employment hiring "young attractive" nurses to boost scores and not hiring the best candidate for the position. I personally have no issue with hiring a beautiful staff as long as they are intellectually the best of the best.[/quote']
Do we know they're not the best candidate? Unless Commuter is part of the hiring process she can't possibly know why these people were chosen. And to assume just because of their looks they aren't qualified is wrong.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Do we know they're not the best candidate? Unless Commuter is part of the hiring process she can't possibly know why these people were chosen. And to assume just because of their looks they aren't qualified is wrong.
The chief nursing officer of the hospital stated that this group of nurses was hired because they appeared to have the 'right attitude.'
I'm not assuming they were hired due to their looks. I'm observing that this group of new hires consists of mostly youngish females who are cute and fairly slim. Assumption is not the synonym of observation.
I'm not assuming they were hired due to their looks. I'm observing that this group of new hires consists of mostly youngish females who are cute and fairly slim. Assumption is not the synonym of observation.
Re-reading your original post, yes, you were assuming they were hired, at least in part, because of their looks.
Here are my thoughts on this issue. Rather than hire a mix of highly experienced and relatively inexperienced nurses, the managerial staff opted to save on labor costs by hiring younger nurses with a certain attractive look that patients and families might find appealing.
Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN
20,908 Posts
This is to let you know that this is an official warning warning......allnurses promotes lively debates.....as long as it is polite. This means you are free to disagree with anyone on any type of subject matter as long as your criticism is constructive and polite. We ask to please refrain from name-calling......This is divisive, rude, and derails the thread. Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
Our first priority is to the members that have come here because of the flame-free atmosphere we provide. There is a zero-tolerance policy here against personal attacks. We will not tolerate anyone insulting other's opinion nor name calling.
Our call is to be supportive, not divisive. Or the thread will be close and points assigned