I love the Job It's the People I hate!
Conversation between myself and the daughter of a new patient this morning;
Me: Good morning, this is Mary. How can I help you?
Ms. Thang:Yes, Hello I am Mr. Oldfart's daughter.I need to speak with you about the nurse who came out to see my daddy yesterday.
Me: Ok ma'm. Tell me what's going on.
Ms. Thang: Yes, I don't want her coming back out here.
Me: Ok, may I ask why?
Ms.Thang: Well, I just wasn't very impressed with her is all.
Me: Was she inappropriate?
Ms. Thang: No, she was very polite and professional.
Me: Was your father not happy with her visit then?
Ms Thang: No, Daddy liked her good enough I guess.
Me: Ok, well what seems to be the problem?
Ms. Thang: Well, she didn't have the right address for one thing.She called here twice to get directions to the house.
Me: Well, Ms. Thang she is a visiting nurse and she does need to know how to get to someone's house to visit them
Ms. Thang: Well, I know that but I just feel like it was poor planning on her part. She should have had the correct address.
Me: Well, ma'm the address she had was the address the discharge planner at the hospital gave us.If she had the wrong address it was because that was the address on the chart.
Ms. Thang: Well, I understand that and all but then she had to call me twice before she could figure out how to get here. Don't you think that is a little excessive?
Me: I am not sure I do. I mean, if she needed to get to your house where your father is and she didn't know how to get there and she is in her car without the benefit of a map or computer to aid her, then it is appropriate for her to call you to ask for directions.
Ms.Thang:Really? Because I am of the mind that she should know her way around town. You know, I used to do home health 20 years ago and I always knew my way around town.
Me: Yes, ma'm. Well, that nurse has only lived here in Austin for 1 year so she is not as familiar with the town as say someone who has lived here a long time.
Ms. Thang: Exactly! I would like for you to send someone out here who is familiar with this area.And also, the little mexican man you sent out here to bath him is too small. My daddy is a big man. he stands over 6 foot tall in his stocking feet and weighs over 200 pounds. He needs someone height and weight proportionate.
Me: Ma'm, I do not have a home health aide that is 6 foot tall weighing over 200 pounds. Francisco is very capable of bathing you father. he is used to working with all types of patients.
Ms. Thang: Well, another thing is he called here this morning and said he wanted to come over after lunch. I need a more specific time. He just said he would be here between 12-1:30 pm.
Me: That is pretty specific. We never give any of our clients a set time for our arrival.We can never know the flow of traffic or how the patient we see before we see you is going to be. We give everyone a window of time usually between 1-2 hour period.
Ms.Thang: Oh, I can tell we are not on the same page here. You do realize that I have other things to do than sit around waiting for someone to show all day!
Me: Ma'm I can try to work with you to make you happy. Let me talk with the scheduler to see if we can find the right staff members to assist your dad at the house.
Ms.Thang:Yea, you can try, we'll see what happens.
Click-dead phone line
Me: Good morning, this is Mary. How can I help you?
Ms. Thang:Yes, Hello I am Mr. Oldfart's daughter.I need to speak with you about the nurse who came out to see my daddy yesterday.
Me: Ok ma'm. Tell me what's going on.
Ms. Thang: Yes, I don't want her coming back out here.
Me: Ok, may I ask why?
Ms.Thang: Well, I just wasn't very impressed with her is all.
Me: Was she inappropriate?
Ms. Thang: No, she was very polite and professional.
Me: Was your father not happy with her visit then?
Ms Thang: No, Daddy liked her good enough I guess.
Me: Ok, well what seems to be the problem?
Ms. Thang: Well, she didn't have the right address for one thing.She called here twice to get directions to the house.
Me: Well, Ms. Thang she is a visiting nurse and she does need to know how to get to someone's house to visit them
Ms. Thang: Well, I know that but I just feel like it was poor planning on her part. She should have had the correct address.
Me: Well, ma'm the address she had was the address the discharge planner at the hospital gave us.If she had the wrong address it was because that was the address on the chart.
Ms. Thang: Well, I understand that and all but then she had to call me twice before she could figure out how to get here. Don't you think that is a little excessive?
Me: I am not sure I do. I mean, if she needed to get to your house where your father is and she didn't know how to get there and she is in her car without the benefit of a map or computer to aid her, then it is appropriate for her to call you to ask for directions.
Ms.Thang:Really? Because I am of the mind that she should know her way around town. You know, I used to do home health 20 years ago and I always knew my way around town.
Me: Yes, ma'm. Well, that nurse has only lived here in Austin for 1 year so she is not as familiar with the town as say someone who has lived here a long time.
Ms. Thang: Exactly! I would like for you to send someone out here who is familiar with this area.And also, the little mexican man you sent out here to bath him is too small. My daddy is a big man. he stands over 6 foot tall in his stocking feet and weighs over 200 pounds. He needs someone height and weight proportionate.
Me: Ma'm, I do not have a home health aide that is 6 foot tall weighing over 200 pounds. Francisco is very capable of bathing you father. he is used to working with all types of patients.
Ms. Thang: Well, another thing is he called here this morning and said he wanted to come over after lunch. I need a more specific time. He just said he would be here between 12-1:30 pm.
Me: That is pretty specific. We never give any of our clients a set time for our arrival.We can never know the flow of traffic or how the patient we see before we see you is going to be. We give everyone a window of time usually between 1-2 hour period.
Ms.Thang: Oh, I can tell we are not on the same page here. You do realize that I have other things to do than sit around waiting for someone to show all day!
Me: Ma'm I can try to work with you to make you happy. Let me talk with the scheduler to see if we can find the right staff members to assist your dad at the house.
Ms.Thang:Yea, you can try, we'll see what happens.
Click-dead phone line
Posted by poody at 10:40 AM::
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6 Comments:
Ms Thang ain't right! I don't know how you kept from making a snarky comment about changing the angle of the sun for her while you were at it. Sigh. Some folks!
OMG its almost like phone calls that I get but they are billing related. You just cannot please some people no matter what you do!
grrrr.
perhaps francisco might like to put some sugar in Mrs Thang's gas tank next time he visits.....
(I didn't say that)
She should count herself lucky. The service you just dscribed is a service people here could only dream of.
The Nhs does what it wants, when it wants and pretty much most things are on long waiting lists.
Nothing will ever please this woman....
*rolling eyes*
dang.... if she's whining about things like that she must be a *joy* to live with....
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