Patient Satisfaction Nursing Hospital Healthcare Compassion Caring Nurse Reimbursement
Nursing: How to improve patient satisfaction rates
Patient satisfaction is more than just a buzzword invented to make healthcare providers' jobs more difficult. Patient satisfaction rates are a major player in reimbursement plans. Patients can now go online and rate their healthcare providers, and insurance companies and government regulators are paying attention to those rankings.
Patient satisfaction is "job one" for all healthcare providers. A few simple steps can make a huge difference in the way patients and their families will remember (and rate) their experiences with your institution or agency.
You can only make one first impression. The friendliness of the staff is often the first opportunity to represent the facility or agency. Introduce yourself with your name and position. There will be less confusion in people's minds about who is coming in and out and what they are doing if every time you enter a room, you re-introduce yourself. Patients want to know if they are being treated by a nurse, rather than someone with an unidentifiable set of initials after a first name on a badge covered with pins and stickers.
Put yourself in the patient's place. If you are cold, and you are wearing a jacket and up running around, then, the patient and family member must be even colder. If you can, always offer an extra blanket. Whenever an opportunity arises, remind family members to bring a sweater for themselves whenever they go to the hospital with a patient.
Guard patient privacy. Close doors, draw curtains, especially if the patient is an adolescent. Most of them won't even let their own mothers see certain body parts.
Offer a drink whenever it's not contraindicated. A cup of water, a little ice, an offer to stay with a child while mom goes to the bathroom or gets a soda, these small courtesies make a huge difference.
Anticipating needs helps prevent them from becoming problems. When you leave a room, ask if there's anything else you can do to make the patient more comfortable. Most call lights are pressed because the patient hasn't seen anyone in a long time, or five minutes after you have left the room, he remembers what he needed.
Stay in touch. Waiting is the worst part for family members. It takes very little on your part to let them know how a procedure is going, or how much longer it might take. If you don't know, tell them that and offer to find out, or just offer the reassurance of "it shouldn't be much longer."
Never touch without talk first. Even a child wants to know what you are doing before you do it. Adults have the right to know. A lengthy explanation isn't necessary. But if what you are planning to do involves an uncomfortable position or procedure, or something cold or wet, the patient should be warned.
Don't offer false reassurance. No one wants to hear, "You'll feel better tomorrow" when they are miserable today. Instead, acknowledge, "I'm sorry this hurts," or "This must be hard for you," and add, "I'll stay with you as much as I can," "Your mom can be here," "You won't be alone," or "We'll do the best we can to help you."
Courtesy, presence, caring, and competence are the keys to improving patient satisfaction rates. Even if the hospital had its rooms done by Martha Stewart, its food catered by a five-star restaurant, state-of-the art medical equipment and technology, patient satisfaction would still be determined by its nursing staff. Almost nothing is more important than five simple words, "Hi, how are you doing?"
