The speaker- Liz Jazwiec- was this really hilarious ED Nurse originally form a hospital called Holy Cross on the South Side of Chicago. Her stories were laugh out loud funny.
http://www.lizjazz.com/home.php
Some great take home messages:
Stop making excuses
- As hospitals we always like to think we're busier or have more acute patients or have less money to work with. Its not true. If someone else has done something that works--- stop looking for reasons why "that won't work here"
Decide that Customer Service IS a priority and staff will respond
- If a nurse dropped a needle on the ground, picked it up and dusted it off, then stuck it into a patient... a manager wouldn't walk by and see and say 'that's ok' or 'i understand that you've had a bad day... i know you'll do it right next time.' NO way. That's a quality/safety issues. Can't let that slide. But if another staff member is ride or abrupt on the phone, you'd be more understanding that they had a bad. The "do whatever you have to to get through the day" mentality doesn't get us anywhere.
Staff don't have to be fully satisfied themselves in order to make the patient's stay more satisfying
- Liz told stories about how even after improving patient satisfaction from 5%-95% their rates in the ED were still terrible (8%!!). Her mentality was "I'm here to save their asses, not kiss them!" but then her job was on the line, and she told staff they needed to make it happen or she was getting sacked. The staff loved her and agreed to be nicer to patients- but were so fake about it. Still- they did it. They asked if there was anything else they could do for the patient etc... and it worked! And then ultimately the staff were more happy too.
Perception counts more than reality
- What the patient thinks about the experience is what they're taking with them. In Liz's example their ED patients felt like they did not have privacy. She thought this was ludicrous since they had stretchers everywhere. Not enough room=not enough privacy. But someone suggested as they close the patients behind their curtains to tell them explicitly they're doing it for the patient's privacy. That was all it took. Reminding patients why you're doing things and leaving a good image in their minds--- means more than the fact that the hospital meets the standards in terms of privacy.
Ninety minutes well spent. You sign up for these things and sometimes its total rubbish. This was definitely an invigorating session that had everyone smiling and talking as they left. I'm so glad I went!
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