6 ms·

To be fair, ERs are being rated, not doctors. They are generally independent of each other. " How friendly the staff is is absolutely irrelevant when you have

by tertius 11y ago

To be fair, ERs are being rated, not doctors. They are generally independent of each other. " How friendly the staff is is absolutely irrelevant when you have a medical emergency. " I disagree, delving into the negative spectrum of interpersonal communication could cause unwarranted stress which could exacerbate many conditions. I agree that staff shouldn't be expected to bend over backwards, but there's no need for negative treatment. And I don't consider saying "no" to a low priority case as negative treatment. And if as an ER employee you can't handle the stress of the ER you may need to change departments or get some training. " I'd always chose the bigger ER over a smaller one " Which requires research, which most people don't have time for in an emergency. But I agree completely with this. I live in one of the largest medical centers in the world and I know where to go.

kom107 11y ago
Many empirical studies point out that in fact, the 'friendlier' the staff is (meaning higher 'patient satisfaction scores') the poorer the actual clinical outcomes are at that facility. See: https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2012/02/15/patient-satisfaction https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2012/02/15/patient-s... Longread but excellent: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/04/the-problem-with-satisfied-patients/390684/ http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/04/the-proble... As someone who works in healthcare (formerly at the bedside), and who's partner is a current ED nurse, this infuriates me. Department budgets are related to patient satisfaction scores, the EDs generally tend to have low scores because, yes, sorry you've been here for 3 hours, but we had 4 other patients come in (and HIPPA prevents me from telling you that they were level 1 gunshot wounds) and we can't tend to your constipation right at this second. If someone actually were to check Yelp for wait times and then have to wait longer...scores go even lower, reimbursements decrease, staff have higher patient ratios, lather, rinse, repeat. I assure you, I have seen many, MANY patients complain and file greivances with the Department of Health, Joint Commission, etc, that their toothache, or even general wellness physical, should take prescedence over cardiac arrests. This is in a top 10 hospital in the United States, and we generally score above average with patient satsifaction. The public has no clue and this is not helping.
- tertius 11y ago
  "(meaning higher 'patient satisfaction scores')" I was not addressing this at all. Patient satisfaction scores are a lot more broad than "staff was friendly, check". I even state the following "And I don't consider saying 'no' to a low priority case as negative treatment." I have family and friends that are ER physicians (and have done it in multiple countries), and they can handle the stress of stressed patients without needing to resort to stress induced interaction themselves. This is all that I was referring to. I do not tolerate rude medical staff, and no one should. Again, if you can't handle the stress, get training or change departments.
  - kom107 11y ago
    I appreciate and understand that they are significantly more broad than the friendly staff metric. However, patients who feel the staff were friendly tend to give higher overall ratings. And I know that you stated that you don't consider saying no to a low priority case as negative treatment, but again, I promise you, PLENTY of people do. I got it at least once a shift, if not more frequently. I have literally had patients come up to me in another patient's room WHILE WE WERE DOING COMPRESSIONS and complain that we weren't getting them ice fast enough. I'm sure being an ER physician can handle the stress, because they aren't interacting with the patients like the nurses and techs interact with the patients. Have they ever had someone hit them because they didn't get their turkey sandwich fast enough? Spit in their face because they were made NPO? Pee on them on purpose? I sincerely doubt it. The scope of practice is entirely different. I think the nurses and techs do an incredible job of keeping it together and maintaining a friendly demeanor towards patients when they have to put up with these things. It's easy for you to say 'If you can't handle the stress, get training or change departments'. That's exactly the response that causes nursing to have such a high turnover and burnout rate. No one is advocating for staff to be rude, I'm advocating, however, for better ratios for the nursing staff and more patient education on the other side of healthcare. And frankly, I think that sometimes, it should be okay for healthcare workers to interact with a patient like they are an asshole because THEY ARE. You'll get the same standard of care, but I'll be damned if I'm going to go to another floor to search for some ice cream for you after you called me every name in the book and pulled out your IV for the third time in the past 4 hours because you didn't like that I still won't give you another dose of dilauded...and you're in the hospital because you're diabetic and morbidly obese.

by tertius 11y ago

kom107 11y ago

Many empirical studies point out that in fact, the 'friendlier' the staff is (meaning higher 'patient satisfaction scores') the poorer the actual clinical outcomes are at that facility. See: https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2012/02/15/patient-satisfaction https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2012/02/15/patient-s... Longread but excellent: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/04/the-problem-with-satisfied-patients/390684/ http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/04/the-proble... As someone who works in healthcare (formerly at the bedside), and who's partner is a current ED nurse, this infuriates me. Department budgets are related to patient satisfaction scores, the EDs generally tend to have low scores because, yes, sorry you've been here for 3 hours, but we had 4 other patients come in (and HIPPA prevents me from telling you that they were level 1 gunshot wounds) and we can't tend to your constipation right at this second. If someone actually were to check Yelp for wait times and then have to wait longer...scores go even lower, reimbursements decrease, staff have higher patient ratios, lather, rinse, repeat. I assure you, I have seen many, MANY patients complain and file greivances with the Department of Health, Joint Commission, etc, that their toothache, or even general wellness physical, should take prescedence over cardiac arrests. This is in a top 10 hospital in the United States, and we generally score above average with patient satsifaction. The public has no clue and this is not helping.

tertius 11y ago
"(meaning higher 'patient satisfaction scores')" I was not addressing this at all. Patient satisfaction scores are a lot more broad than "staff was friendly, check". I even state the following "And I don't consider saying 'no' to a low priority case as negative treatment." I have family and friends that are ER physicians (and have done it in multiple countries), and they can handle the stress of stressed patients without needing to resort to stress induced interaction themselves. This is all that I was referring to. I do not tolerate rude medical staff, and no one should. Again, if you can't handle the stress, get training or change departments.
- kom107 11y ago
  I appreciate and understand that they are significantly more broad than the friendly staff metric. However, patients who feel the staff were friendly tend to give higher overall ratings. And I know that you stated that you don't consider saying no to a low priority case as negative treatment, but again, I promise you, PLENTY of people do. I got it at least once a shift, if not more frequently. I have literally had patients come up to me in another patient's room WHILE WE WERE DOING COMPRESSIONS and complain that we weren't getting them ice fast enough. I'm sure being an ER physician can handle the stress, because they aren't interacting with the patients like the nurses and techs interact with the patients. Have they ever had someone hit them because they didn't get their turkey sandwich fast enough? Spit in their face because they were made NPO? Pee on them on purpose? I sincerely doubt it. The scope of practice is entirely different. I think the nurses and techs do an incredible job of keeping it together and maintaining a friendly demeanor towards patients when they have to put up with these things. It's easy for you to say 'If you can't handle the stress, get training or change departments'. That's exactly the response that causes nursing to have such a high turnover and burnout rate. No one is advocating for staff to be rude, I'm advocating, however, for better ratios for the nursing staff and more patient education on the other side of healthcare. And frankly, I think that sometimes, it should be okay for healthcare workers to interact with a patient like they are an asshole because THEY ARE. You'll get the same standard of care, but I'll be damned if I'm going to go to another floor to search for some ice cream for you after you called me every name in the book and pulled out your IV for the third time in the past 4 hours because you didn't like that I still won't give you another dose of dilauded...and you're in the hospital because you're diabetic and morbidly obese.