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I'm putting this under Sightings because the customer is the patient, and the patient wasn't the one who was sucky (heck, she never even woke up), nor was the family. So it doesn't seem to fit as a Sucky Customer.
This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. BG I work part time for one of our local Hospice organizations doing telephone triage. One of our nurses who does visits was on light duty from a back injury, so we swapped roles for the weekend. I didn't mind, I like doing visits as long as it is during the day (I don't see well at night and hate trying to find places in the dark). /BG
Cast:
Me:
J: Triage nurse
CNA: bitch caregiver for the patient.
Boss: my immediate supervisor
Big Boss: well, you get the idea.
So J calls me to send me on a visit to a lady we often get calls about after office hours. The patient has a 24 hour live in CNA. I knew the name, as we get a lot of calls about this patient, however, I'd never gotten one as triage. Moreover, this was my first visit to the home. J tells me that the CNA was reporting the patient was "gasping for air" and on the verge of dying. The CNA wanted a nurse to visit. "She's crazy," J tells me. "We have all kinds of problems with her." Well, after 8 years in the ER, and 3 years working in a jail, I figure I can handle anything.
I get to the home and find the CNA sitting on the front step, talking on the phone. She is crying, and there are tissues scattered all over the front porch. She hangs up the phone when I get there. I smile and say, "Let's go see how she [the patient] is doing?" The CNA started on about how she was close, and she'd called the nephew who was POA to come right away.
Well, to make a long story short (this really isn't about the patient), the patient was stable. Nothing wrong. Nothing at all. Simply sound asleep.
"Great," I say. "You're doing everything right. She just needs to be repositioned, and the snoring will stop. Just let her sleep. She's doing fine."
"The other nurse was here last night and told me she had days," the CNA said.
Well, I didn't see it. The patient was as stable as could be; eating drinking, making urine. She wasn't anywhere near actively dying, and I told the CNA so. I could see she was pissed. I ignored the behaviors and went back to my car to make my next visit. While I was programming my GPS, the nephew and his wife drove up. So, I get out of my car, introduced myself and let them know everything was OK. The nephew and his wife were wonderful, gracious, and pleasant . . .relieved that things were OK after all.
Next Monday, my boss calls me to tell me the CNA was filing a HIPPA complaint because I talked to the family. According to her, I had no right to discuss patient information with them. I told my boss what happened, and she agreed I'd done nothing improper and not to worry about it.
A couple of days ago, the boss came into the office while I was there picking up my computer for my next shift. She told me the Big Boss had called the home, which is what she always does when there's a complaint, basically to kiss ass "we're sorry you were not satisfied with the service, etc etc without admitting the employee did anything wrong."
So, the CNA says, "well, I don't want Panacea back out here again."
Big Boss: Well, if Panacea is the nurse making visits, she may indeed have to visit again.
CNA: I don't want her here. I'm the caregiver, and I don't want Panacea in this house.
Big Boss: Are you a relative?
CNA: I'm the 24 hour caregiver and I don't want her here!
Big Boss: But are you related to the patient.
CNA, indignant: I'm a family friend!
Big Boss: I'm very sorry, but since you are not related, you cannot tell us who is not allowed to visit the patient.
Not that I'd want to deal with this CNA again, but I was surprised the Big Boss didn't cave.
This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. BG I work part time for one of our local Hospice organizations doing telephone triage. One of our nurses who does visits was on light duty from a back injury, so we swapped roles for the weekend. I didn't mind, I like doing visits as long as it is during the day (I don't see well at night and hate trying to find places in the dark). /BG
Cast:
Me:
J: Triage nurse
CNA: bitch caregiver for the patient.
Boss: my immediate supervisor
Big Boss: well, you get the idea.
So J calls me to send me on a visit to a lady we often get calls about after office hours. The patient has a 24 hour live in CNA. I knew the name, as we get a lot of calls about this patient, however, I'd never gotten one as triage. Moreover, this was my first visit to the home. J tells me that the CNA was reporting the patient was "gasping for air" and on the verge of dying. The CNA wanted a nurse to visit. "She's crazy," J tells me. "We have all kinds of problems with her." Well, after 8 years in the ER, and 3 years working in a jail, I figure I can handle anything.
I get to the home and find the CNA sitting on the front step, talking on the phone. She is crying, and there are tissues scattered all over the front porch. She hangs up the phone when I get there. I smile and say, "Let's go see how she [the patient] is doing?" The CNA started on about how she was close, and she'd called the nephew who was POA to come right away.
Well, to make a long story short (this really isn't about the patient), the patient was stable. Nothing wrong. Nothing at all. Simply sound asleep.
"Great," I say. "You're doing everything right. She just needs to be repositioned, and the snoring will stop. Just let her sleep. She's doing fine."
"The other nurse was here last night and told me she had days," the CNA said.
Well, I didn't see it. The patient was as stable as could be; eating drinking, making urine. She wasn't anywhere near actively dying, and I told the CNA so. I could see she was pissed. I ignored the behaviors and went back to my car to make my next visit. While I was programming my GPS, the nephew and his wife drove up. So, I get out of my car, introduced myself and let them know everything was OK. The nephew and his wife were wonderful, gracious, and pleasant . . .relieved that things were OK after all.
Next Monday, my boss calls me to tell me the CNA was filing a HIPPA complaint because I talked to the family. According to her, I had no right to discuss patient information with them. I told my boss what happened, and she agreed I'd done nothing improper and not to worry about it.
A couple of days ago, the boss came into the office while I was there picking up my computer for my next shift. She told me the Big Boss had called the home, which is what she always does when there's a complaint, basically to kiss ass "we're sorry you were not satisfied with the service, etc etc without admitting the employee did anything wrong."
So, the CNA says, "well, I don't want Panacea back out here again."
Big Boss: Well, if Panacea is the nurse making visits, she may indeed have to visit again.
CNA: I don't want her here. I'm the caregiver, and I don't want Panacea in this house.
Big Boss: Are you a relative?
CNA: I'm the 24 hour caregiver and I don't want her here!
Big Boss: But are you related to the patient.
CNA, indignant: I'm a family friend!
Big Boss: I'm very sorry, but since you are not related, you cannot tell us who is not allowed to visit the patient.
Not that I'd want to deal with this CNA again, but I was surprised the Big Boss didn't cave.
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