Customer service is something that is always a big priority for those in the retail and service sectors. The healthcare industry should be no exception to this rule. Everyone in the business of medicine is in place to provide help and care to those who need it or seek it, so attention to the level of service provided should be at the forefront of their responsibilities. Many practices, however, miss the mark and their patients suffer. Though you might be the only game in town who accepts a specific insurance, that certainly doesn’t mean that your patients should be made to take what they can get. Here are a few important points about providing great customer service to your patients that can help you to develop the policies you need for a popular, well-loved practice. Continue reading “Defining Customer Service for Your Medical Practice”
Category: Careers in Healthcare
Travel Nursing and Personal Relationships
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Travel nursing offers some amazing benefits and opportunities to those who decide that this is the right career path and lifestyle for them. The chance to see a variety of new places and sights and to experience a variety of local cultures is a wonderful motivator for medical professionals. Plus, there are opportunities to learn from new people with a variety of different experiences as they travel from assignment to assignment.
Continue reading “Travel Nursing and Personal Relationships”Tips for Handling Shift Transitions
on /Shiftwork is something that nearly every healthcare professional has to deal with at some point in their career. Just when you get used to working a certain shift, it’s time to switch up and change over to another. This can wreak havoc on your personal schedule and internal clock, making it hard to cope both physically and mentally. Shift work can also take a toll on your family, as their schedule is disrupted by your altered availability, varied meal and sleep times, and more. How do you handle this necessary evil with the least disruption? Here are a few tips that can help with shift transitions: Continue reading “Tips for Handling Shift Transitions”
Maintaining Healthy Patient-Provider Relationships
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No one wants to feel like nothing more than an ID number on a file or a time-slot in a daily schedule. As a care provider, it is up to you to develop healthy relationships with your patients in order to give them the best quality care possible. Outcomes are often improved when there is a solid, trusting relationship between doctor and patient, so it’s worth your time to work to develop these connections. Here are a few important points to keep in mind as you work with your patients each day.
Continue reading “Maintaining Healthy Patient-Provider Relationships”Managing Patient Expectations
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When a patient initially comes in for care, their end-goal is to be free from whatever illness or injury is plaguing them. Though this can be the case after a period of treatment, sometimes even the simplest illnesses require more intervention than expected. Patients can become frustrated when they aren’t seeing progress in their treatment, and they may begin to question doctor’s orders and treatments. Communication can help to manage these expectations and create an environment that allows for discussion and change of direction, as well as a better understanding of possible outcomes.
Continue reading “Managing Patient Expectations”Protecting Yourself while Protecting Your Patients
on /A few weeks ago, there was a story all over the news and social media, featuring a video of a nurse being taken into custody after refusing to allow blood to be drawn from an unconscious patient. In the video, a police officer was demanding that he be allowed to draw blood from the patient who was under her care, though he had no warrant to override direct consent from the patient, which he was unable to give. The officer became irate at her refusal, though she explained that it was her job to protect the rights of her patient, and placed her in handcuffs.
In the end, the nurse came out as the hero, and there was an investigation of the officer who was wrongfully asking for the blood sample and wrongfully placed her into custody. It was a dramatic scenario and quite frightening to any medical professional who cares about their patients, even though the final outcome was positive.
At some hospitals, this has caused serious discussion about the place of nurses and other care providers in being the point of contact with the police. Changes are being made at some facilities to remove those directly responsible for patient care from the equation so they are no longer required to interact with the police. If your facility is not one of these, it is important to know how to protect yourself and your patients in similar scenarios. Continue reading “Protecting Yourself while Protecting Your Patients”