A Patient’s Take on Patient Satisfaction Surveys

PSS

By Amy M. Collins, editor

As an editor at AJN, I come across a lot of information on performance measures and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) surveys. It’s a hot topic that we’ve covered several times, with some health care providers railing against these surveys and questioning whether satisfaction during a hospital stay is the same as quality care (see the September Editorial and the July 2012 Viewpoint for more on this).

Yet as usual, reading about a topic isn’t entirely the same as experiencing it. A few days after undergoing a small, non-emergency, in-office medical procedure, I was surprised to find a patient satisfaction survey in my e-mail inbox. Busy and flooded with many other e-mails, I was tempted to banish the survey to the trash can, especially since I didn’t feel I had much to say. But curiosity got the better of me.

The survey started off easily enough, as I clicked through questions such as “Was your waiting room time under 15 minutes?”; “Were the receptionists polite?”; “Was our facility clean?”

But as the survey crept forward, I began to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of questions. Many questions seemed redundant; for example, I answered about five related to waiting times. Are they trying to catch patients out on inconsistent answers? All the while a green bar at the top showing […]

2016-11-21T13:06:17-05:00October 14th, 2013|patient engagement|1 Comment
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They’re Not Taking Away Our Puppies (And God Help Them If They Do)

By Jacob Molyneux, AJN senior editor/blog editor

I am amazed at the amount of time being wasted on the relatively mundane matter of health care exchanges. It seems we are now facing a government shutdown; there are creepy and misleading advertisements funded by conservative billionaires like the Koch brothers in order to scare people from signing up for insurance; some red states have actually enacted laws forbidding the health care navigators from helping people understand the new system and sign up for it, and many of these states have refused to create their own exchanges to help their citizens comply with the new law.

The ACA is a law. You can’t just ignore it if it doesn’t meet your personal preferences or political ideas. Given the heated rhetoric the Republicans are trotting out about it, you’d think the government was trying to take away our puppies, instead of implementing ideas originally floated by Republicans themselves to make life a bit easier for millions of Americans whose life decisions are unduly ruled by crazy health care billing practices, byzantine insurance regulations, discrimination against those who have chronic conditions, insanely varying pricing for simple tests, and the like. […]

2016-11-21T13:06:26-05:00September 30th, 2013|health care policy, Patients|9 Comments
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Come Into My Parlor

Amy Getter, MS, RN, lives in Eugene, Oregon, where, in her own words, she “works with people with life-limiting illness who are enrolled in a hospice wherever they consider ‘home.’”

by Ramon Peco/via Flickr by Ramon Peco/via Flickr

I fondly remember becoming acquainted with my first “parlor,” in a 100-year-old home that my family moved into during my teen years. The walls were dressed in faded, peeling, paisley-patterned wallpaper and a tarnished brass chandelier hung from the ceiling. French doors closed it away from the rest of the living area, giving it a slightly mysterious aura. Far-off city lights blinked at me from elongated paned windows. I immediately claimed it as my bedroom.

The word parlor (derived from the verb “to speak”) may have first been used in medieval monasteries. An “outer parlor” was designated for receiving outsiders and attending to business needs and the “inner parlor” was for the monks’ private use. During the mid-19th century, formal parlors evolved and could be found in homes like the one my family lived in.

Weddings, funerals (being “laid out”), and other social events occurred in the parlor. Home businesses emerged (such as “funeral parlors”—offering an option for laying out the deceased in someone else’s home!). In recent years, care of the infirm and preparation of the […]

2016-11-21T13:06:28-05:00September 27th, 2013|narratives, nursing perspective, nursing stories, patient experience|3 Comments
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A Breath of Fresh Air, Relatively Speaking

By Tara Duffy, RN. Tara is an RN at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, where she works in the Wilmont Cancer Center. 

I hear it, taste it, smell the construction to my left as I walk into the hospital. It is a sight for sore eyes—as in causing them, not soothing them—so I try to pay it little attention.

Her smile catches my attention. I have not seen it in weeks.

“I hear you got outside today?” I ask.

by utahwildflowers/via Flickr by utahwildflowers/via Flickr

The smile widens as I write my name on the whiteboard. She is a vibrant woman, full of life yet dying to be home.

“I did . . . it was greeeeaat,” she sighs.

I instantly envision the hospital surroundings—smokers circle at one exit, construction on the opposite.

“Where did you get to go?” I ask, hoping to learn of some hidden gems beyond these doors.

“Right out front,” she responds, matter-of-factly.

The construction site, I think to myself, instantly dismayed.

“It was sooo great.” Her smile surfaces again.

I suddenly realize she is speaking in relative terms.

“Just that fresh air,” she pauses as I envision the filth and ruckus, “was soooo nice.” She exhales deeply.

My smile widens with hers. I am instantly humbled. I manage an “I bet.” […]

2016-11-21T13:06:31-05:00September 20th, 2013|nursing perspective, Patients|0 Comments
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Are You Glad Ariel Castro Is Dead?

Lorry Schoenly is a correctional nurse blogging at CorrectionalNurse.Net. This guest post is a modification of a recent post on her site. Follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

Ariel Castro's home in Cleveland, OH/Wikimedia Commons Ariel Castro’s home in Cleveland, OH/Wikimedia Commons

What were your first thoughts when you heard the news of convicted Ohio kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro’s successful suicide while in protective custody in a state prison reception facility? Based on my Twitter and Facebook timelines, there have been a variety of responses in the public, nursing, and correctional health care communities. Many are glad that society is saved from the cost of caring for such a heinous criminal. Some are critical of the mental health and security oversights that led to this opportunity for self-injury. After all, Castro’s suicide potential score must have been off the chart. Fellow blogger and forensic psychiatrist Annette Hanson (@clinkshrink) provides a thoughtful post with her take on the subject: “Your Patient Died. Who Cares?”

This major news item is a reminder of the personal and professional conflict frequently experienced by those of us who care for criminals, many of whom are pretty unlovely, even monstrous, people. The very definition of professional nursing, however, requires us to […]

2016-11-21T13:06:32-05:00September 18th, 2013|Ethics, nursing perspective, Patients|3 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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