Are hospitals different when it comes to customers? My complaints are about lack of professionalism with the staff. I had some young nurses who liked to talk loudly in the halls with my door open at night with no regard for my sleep and no it was not medical talk, kids clothes ,houses ect.

Also they were having IT training while I was there with up to 4 people in my room trying to figure out the computer. Three of the people were IT people and one nurse. They talked for long periods as if I was not in the bed next to them.The conversations had nothing to do with me..
The lab techs were poorly trained when drawing blood.I am what is called a bad stick when it comes to finding veins. I had to finally send one away after 6-8 attemps. There is ultra sound equipment to help these situations but the hospital did not use it. Other hospitals I were in did.

Getting sleep was impossible. I slept a total of 4 hours in 3 nights, one night not at all. The staff does not consider this important, maybe it isn't.
One thing that really upset me was that I was on a no food or drink situation the whole stay. Some staff member thought it would be neat to set up a taco bar in the hallway next to my room with chips ,hamburger, salsa and deserts. Yes there is a break room for the staff why in the hall way?
I have had many stays in several hospitals over the last 10 years but this was the worse. I sent a letter to the administration. Am I just a grumpy old man?
I could go on but that's enough for now.

No sir, you are NOT just a grumpy old man, YOU are, or should be, the centerpiece around which everything they do revolves. I`m currently in the very last year of a 40+ year career in healthcare and hospital administration. I`m sorry to have to say that your experiences are far too common in our business. All too often, staff lose sight of the " customer service " aspect of what we do. It`s the responsibility of senior leadership to set the tone and expectations for the staff when it comes to being constantly cognisant of the patient`s and their family`s feelings. That hospital`s administration should be GLAD to receive that letter from you. They can and should use it as a teaching tool to reinforce with the staff the necessity of being aware of the patient as a person who has feelings, is out of their familiar surroundings , and with feelings of not being in control of what`s going on around them. It should tell you a lot about that hospital`s leadership if and when you hear back from them.

Probably represents a degree of any problem experienced, yes.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience and I hope the hospital administration does something about it.

I'm also sorry you got the stick veins.

I got bulging out easily found veins filled with German blood and they'll send in the trainee nurse to practice on me most every time. Sometimes they do alright but I've had a few push through the other side of the vein and leave a spot. I had to take the needle away and threaten to it myself only once.

Also, look at it this way- once you are in the hospital you don't want to go to a better place.

So you got that going for you Wrfish.

Sounds like you either need to find another hospital or have them get their Patient Advocate to you when there to have him/her do your complaining for you.

When you are in the hospital you are not a customer, you are a patient.

What is the difference? When you are a customer they wait on you.

When you are a patient it is your place to be patient. You wait on them to see you.

Why is this? Because medicine is a state granted monopoly. They don't have to compete for your business.

Hospitals here are private and compete against one another for your business

Hi,

Not all hospitals are private in the US. There are municipal and university owned hospitals. Some of the very best hospitals are university teaching hospitals in any state.

I spent over 20 years careening around in the back of an amp-a-lamps. I have little patience with a nurse or lab tech that can't make a stick. If I can do it the first time bouncing down a gravel road at 60mph, you can do it in a room. Still, some days are better than others and not all patients are easy sticks. I personally have used the IR vein finders, I don't think they work all that well myself. They have limitations too.

Hard to sleep in a hospital? A hospital is a 24/7/365 place. It ain't never, ever going to be quiet. 4 hours of sleep is far more than I've gotten during any stay that didn't include a stiff shot of morphine..........


Training lessons taking place in your room? Get used to it. The rampant understaffing of nurses these days requires it. There is no other choice.

A taco bar is uncalled for. But eating on station while on duty is common. Because nurses don't often get time to take a peaceful break to eat in a breakroom. Again, thank the administration for understaffing the floors. Being on a restricted diet sucks and sharpens the sense of smell don't it.

Visiting on the job happens everywhere in every job. But being loud is uncalled for. Go back to the station and visit quietly when you got time.

Hospitals that I've been around do send out mailed customer surveys. So you should always fill it out and send it back. They do want to know. And some admin's make believe job depends on those pieces of paper.

I live in a small town of 6000 souls, born and raised.I want us to have a good hospital as the next best one is 80 miles with seems like an eternity if one is not well. I have been friends with the Doctors for years but that group is retiring and a new bunch is taking over. The new ones do not seem to stay long.
The doctor I had arguments with was called a Hospitalist (sp?) She lives many hundreds of miles away and does some sort shift work that permits her to work and then return home for days at a time. She has no intentions of moving here. Why would a doctor need to come so far for a job?
I am 74 as are most of my friends. Half said they would not be treated at our local hospital under any circumstances . This concerns me because if a community does not have a hospital you lose.

Keep a couple things in mind - Avoiding the 80 miles that "seems" like an eternity, may be the difference that leads to an "actual" eternity.

Here in the "OC", we have a couple hospitals where the local LEO's have standing orders NOT to take them there under any circumstances. Even if they've been shot on their property. Sad but true.

A couple years ago I had an episode that presented with classic heart attack symptoms. Called 911 and when the paramedics were loading me up I asked where they were planning on taking me. They said to hospital "A" which is only a few miles away. It used to have an excellent reputation but it's gone way down in recent years so I told them I didn't want to go there but to hospital "B" instead (even though the travel time would be 4 or 5 times longer) and when they started in with "...standard procedure is... blah, blah, blah...", I said either take me to "B" or unhook me so I can drive myself. We went to "B". Enroute they also 'fessed up' that "B" would be their choice as well.

And never forget the word "no". Unless and until the laws are changed, you have the absolute right to refuse any test or treatment. Like for instance when you go to the ER because you sprained your ankle and they automatically want to do an EKG, a CBC (blood tests) and probably a chest x-ray, etc. Tell them, No thank you. But be nice to the folks coming to do the tests...hearing, "no" is probably something they've never heard at work.

It also works in helping to get some sleep/rest. Unless you're in a critical care unit for some reason, they don't need to take your blood pressure at 0200, or draw blood at 0400 (standard times at hospital "B"). Tell the nurses that unless you're 'crashing', that you don't want to be disturbed between ___ and ___ (I tell them between 11:00 PM and 6:30 AM) and then stick to it. No exceptions! Whoever shows up that you send away will try and argue but if you stick to your guns, they eventually get the message.

I've also gotten up and gone out in the hall and/or to the nurse's desk and asked if 'there's any chance they could keep the noise down.' Sometimes it works and sometimes it takes my automatic follow-up with the head nurse the following morning. Yes, you're a patient and not a customer but you can't be bashful.

And a "hospitalist" is a mostly BS term for an "attending physician". They're supposed to be in charge while you're in hospital and then they wash their hands of you on discharge. Translation, they're the guy the nurses can't get hold of if you have a question or request but the guy they're supposed to go to first, before whoever is actually treating you. One almost killed my wife a few years ago when he failed to continue a medication she has to take every day while she was in for several days.

That particular one showed up on my paperwork a couple years ago and I told the doc who was actually treating me, NFW! He asked why and I told him...and then added that I'd like to beat the crap out of him if I ever saw him again. I guess they got the message since I had a different "hospitalist" an hour later.

Oh, and if you think I'm an A-hole patient, you should see me if my wife is the patient!!

This was not the first time I was to receive treatment that I said "no". I have been in several hospitals many days in the last 10 years.The stays are all related. Like you say a lab tech comes in at 4:00 am all cheerful wanting a blood sample. I said no, come back later as I was in no mood to begin another torture routine. I don't think she ever did.
As far as being a "bad stick" (their words) I think it is poor training. I did a follow up visit a few days later with the family doctor for another blood test.The doctor said she had a top notch nurse who would have no trouble finding a vein . True to her word the nurse had instant success.
One other time I said no was after a several day in a distant hospital a nurse came in and announced the hospital would not discharge anyone that day due to the snowy weather. I said" you want to bet, I am leaving today".No argument came from the staff. Hospitals know they cannot keep you against your will unless you are a danger to others