July 8, 2010
Doug Wojcieszak, Founder & Spokesperson
Contact phone/e-mail address: 618-559-8168;
doug@sorryworks.net
SORRY WORKS! E-TOPIC: NURSES AND DISCLOSURE....THE PATIENT/FAMILY PERSPECTIVE
In my travels I've heard many versions of the following: "As a doctor, I'm not going to have some nurse apologize for me!"....OR..... "As a hospital CEO, I'm just uncomfortable with what the nurses will do with disclosure.....Lord only what they will tell patients and families!!"....OR...."We're just not ready for disclosure....we just can't take the risk of what our patients and families will hear.
OK, now try this one on for size from the patient/family perspective: One day Nurse Jones is Chatty Kathy...she is just a warm, bubbly personality who is friendly to all of her patients, families, and colleagues. Nobody can shut her up.....she's such a burst a sunshine you almost need to reach for your sunglasses when she enters the room. But, WHAM, an adverse event happens and then she suddenly turns into Ms. Frigidaire She's cold, distant...won't even look Mr. Smith or his family in the eye in anymore. Before the event she almost spent too much time chatting with Mr. Smith...now she can't get out the room fast enough.
Think that might sets off alarms with the patient and family, Doctor? And Ms. Hospital Administrator...are you now worried about what Nurse Jones is NOT saying and how she is behaving post-adverse event??
You bet.
And, from last week's topic - jousting and speculation - what about all those nurses and staff who believe a family will only learn about a potential error if someone quietly tells them to "get the chart." Think that kind of behavior might buy you a few lawsuits?
You bet.
So, no, nurses won't be apologizing for doctors, but they need to know about disclosure and their role in the process. They can't be frightened and crawl into their shell after something goes wrong....quite the opposite, their empathetic, caring tendencies should go into overdrive. In facts, nurses need to be empowered to engage patients and families post-adverse event. To do otherwise makes patients and families suspicious and more prone to seek legal action.
Nurses and staff need to embrace the entire disclosure process, starting with the first patient visit or family interaction up to and through any potential adverse event.
When I get called to speak at a hospital the request usually comes in the form, "We want someone to give a talk to our docs about disclosure blah, blah." Great, I say, but let's open the talk to everyone: docs, nurses, risk and claims, legal, administration, front-line staff. Get everyone in the room because adverse events and med-mal lawsuits are most often team events - and so is disclosure!
And isn't it funny that of all the groups out there, risk managers often "get" disclosure the quickest. And who are most risk managers? RNs! Risk managers who are former RNs are very sympathetic to disclosure because of the adverse events they saw and participated in which disclosure was NOT used. But an RN shouldn't have to wait to become a risk manager to do disclosure! For disclosure to be successful, it needs to be embraced by the entire organization.
Nurses need to know everything about building strong, loyal relationships with patients and families pre-adverse event, including Five-Star Customer Service. Nurses need to understand how to provide empathy without prematurely admitting fault or jousting/speculation immediately after an event. And nurses need to know about the disclosure process moving forward, how patients and families will receive information and solutions, and potential role(s) in this process.
So, give us a call at 618-559-8168 or e-mail doug@sorryworks.net to see how we can help everyone in your organization - nurses included - embrace disclosure.
Sincerely,
- Doug
Doug Wojcieszak, Founder
Sorry Works!
PO Box 531
Glen Carbon, IL 62034
618-559-8168 (direct dial)
doug@sorryworks.net
|
