Okay, here's my first (of many, I'm sure) issues
I'm an ICU nurse on the night shift of a community hospital. We see a little bit of everything come through our doors and we work our butts off to do our best for our patients. But it seems that we aren't doing quite a good enough job. How do we know this??? Because according to admi nistration, our custumor satisfaction survey scores aren't high enough.
What does this mean--Well, it seems that the majority of patients discharged from the ICU would only probably recommend our hospital as opposed to definately. Our administration's response--we now have administrators present 24/7 to "handle" customer care issures. What they are actually doing is walking around with clipboards checking everyone off on if they introduce themselves, are they friendly, do they smile and make eye contact.
How sad is it that 1: the higher echelon actually see this as a legitimate response, I mean, is this actually the best they can come up with!!! and 2: As my husband put it--You mean they are judging you not on how good the care you give is but on the patients perception of it.--Doesn't quite seem right to me, but what do I know.
Another important factor in this eqation--These surveys are sent to the patients directly discharged from the ICU. In other words--DKA's --pt's we have to poke their finger every hour at least for a blood sugar and tell, no, sorry, nothing to drink until we get your system back on track with IV fluid (Great for rehydration, not so much for quenching that extreme thirst) and accidental overdoses. Now for some reason, these patients don't quite understand (once they wake up that is), why I can't give them something for pain or a sleep aid. Considering just who we discharge, I'm pretty damn impresses our rating is as high as it is.
Anyway,--I work the ICU for a reason. Hell, I'm a nurse for a reason. I want to help people. Iwant to offer some measure of comfort, peace and healing. There is no greater reward than a patient saying saying thank you or I feel better.
Bottom line though I want people to know
I'm a critical care RN
My job is to save your ass
Not kiss it
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3 comments:
I love the last two lines. :)
As you may have guessed, I'm a frequent visitor to the hospital. What I've learned is that the nurses are, in general, over-worked. The last time I was on med-surg, my nurse had four patients. While that seems reasonable to most people, it sucks when you're having a bad reaction to a med and can't stop puking long enough to answer the "Can I help you?"-lady. I was kind of pissed at my nurse because it took her forty-five minutes to get meds to make the puking stop. But, as I laid there afterward, I realized that, to get my medication, she had to evaluate the volume of what I'd been tossing up, call the doctor on call, wait for his return call, get an order, write it up, send it to the pharmacy, wait for them to get the meds to her, and then find the time to get back to me for that injection. Doing that with four patients seems impossible. I cut her some slack after that.
I'm a bad patient. But, I'm gettign better. If we would all stop to think about what you guys have to do, then I think we'd be more flexible.
But, I'm still going to bitch about the ER nurses. LOL ;)
atheist: go for it, we bitch about 'em all the time and thanks for the understanding. Believe me from this end, a smile goes a long way to making a crazy night go a little better
I'm a critical care RN
My job is to save your ass
Not kiss it LOL
You're an amazing nurse, I feel so much better, and I'm not even in the same country. Laughter can be a good medicine.
... the majority of patients discharged from the ICU would only probably recommend our hospital as opposed to definately
How many people turn up in ICU out of 'choice' anyway?
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