I went to the hospital early this morning to make arrangement to move my mom to rehab. I sat there for eight hours waiting on the doctor to come by and release her.
By 1 p.m. I wanted to jab a sharp stick in my eye.....by 3 p.m. I wanted to jab a sharp stick in someone else's eye.
I got snippy (VERY out of character for me) with the nurse supervisor. Look, I told her, your nurses have been great, but I've been her for almost eight hours and I need to speak to the doctor so that we can get my mom out before dark!
She was very apologetic and said that she would contact the doctor. I came close to pulling out the "journalist card".
Yes, I'm a syndicated columnist and if we don't hear from a doctor soon, the administration will not like my story in Sunday's paper!
As it turns out, the doctor did come by shortly after three and so we managed to get mama moved before it got too late.
It's interesting that the nursing, cleaning, and maintenance staff built up a great deal of equity with us by responding when we asked, being very attentive, and following up. But then today, all that good will and equity evaporated by the hour when it took forever to get mama released.
I think a lot of businesses is like that. They focus on superior customer service in one area, but then have lapses in other areas which leaves a bad taste in the customer's mouth.
OK, I'm off my soapbox, please return to your normal blogging activities.
This may be why big organizations don't "usually" give you one of those prepaid post cards asking for an evaluation. I have lots of aging friends and I can't think of one who had a "good" experience with a hospital, ever.
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest problems with doctors and hospital staff is that they think THEIR time is valuable but your time don't mean squat.
ReplyDeleteThe local hospital here sends out a survey form shortly after your discharge so they can find out how you feel about your stay. I think all hospitals should.
ReplyDelete