Patient Satisfaction

What does the term "patient satisfaction" mean to you? Anything? To those in the medical field, patient satisfaction scores can be a huge nemesis. When people leave the hospital a survey follows them home. Most people who fill out surveys are either extremely happy or extremely unhappy. Very few people who have an average or neutral experience fill them out.

In my hospital these scores determine managerial level bonuses. Which means that if the doctors and nursing staff can make the stay pleasant for the patient, the manager(s) of the unit get a monetary bonus.

My hospital takes the surveys and anonymously publishes the comments bi-weekly. I love to read them for my personal growth as a nurse, so that I can provide a better experience for my families, and for a good laugh.

In my unit, the surveys often come back with the same themes:
A) the nurses spend (too much) time in personal conversations
B) the families do not see the doctors enough
C) the parents write a review against a particular staff member

I always rebut each comment/theme in my head that I find ridiculous or do not agree with. It's quite amusing.
A) Nurses love to talk, it's a part of our profession. We spend 9-13 hour days with each other. When parents come in and participate in 45 minutes of care and then spend the next 2 hours and 15 minutes sitting next to the isolette watching their baby sleep or holding their baby, they can't just expect us nurses to not talk to either them or the other nurses. In my unit, we are all in one big open room with 1/2 walls serving as privacy partitions, but you can still see everyone. We nurses are aware that you hear us, and do keep our conversations appropriate, but we do talk.

B) I agree, our families do not see our doctors enough. But, all they have to do is ask (and they know this from day 1). As the nurse I am constantly asking the family, "would you like to speak with the doctor?" Our doctors work 24 hour shifts and do their exams early in the morning (3-6 am). They examine all the babies at this time because there are fewer interruptions--they can do the exam and then go transfer their thoughts immediately, which results in safer medicine.

C) The "we hated nurse X" just kills me. You don't have to love your nurse. Personalities do not always gel the way we want (it's fabulous when that happens!). Was your baby properly cared for? Yes. Then that should be enough. Because you know the "we hated nurse X" comments are always personality based, never based on the care given.

My personal favorite comment doesn't fit into one of the above categories, but is pretty funny. My hospital is located in a so-so area. I feel safe, but don't want to go walking around outside at 3 am by myself. The community and the hospital have built a partnership and purchased an old apartment building across the street, maybe a 1/2 block away and turned it into free and low-cost parent apartments for families who want to stay close by their children while hospitalized. It's an awesome program that we are able to offer. If parents are leaving the hospital late at night, we often will arrange a security guard to escort them to the apartments. Well my favorite comment stems from this. The parent complained that the security guards were too slow and that the hospital should provide a shuttle to escort them to the apartments. WTF? Really?! We're giving you a free place to live and you can't walk 1/2 a block?! Give me a break! Be grateful.

Do you ever read what gets put in the comment box at your job?