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Customer Service in Health Care
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Scrubs Magazine
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Rob Cameron | Scrubs Magazine
Last week I spent four days at Disney World with my family. It was amazing see the magic of it all though my four year old’s eyes. One of the biggest things I was amazed by was how friendly everybody was. And their friendliness made even waiting for over an hour for a three minute ride tolerable.
I saw people yelling the Disney employees and cursing them out, and the employee would just smile at them and say thank you. I saw employees whose job it was to empty trash cans smile at my daughter, call her “princess” and make her feel happy.
As we all know, much of what health care is now, especially in hospitals, is customer service driven. We work in a competitive industry where many consumers can make the decision to take health care dollars to another hospital if they don’t get what they want from your hospital. And, we know that many of the people we take care of can be mean and many times hateful to us as their caregivers.
Imagine the impact we could make on our patients, the organization, our co-workers and health care as a hole if we could keep a smile on our faces. When that homeless patient is cussing you out and calling you a worthless idiot and you just look at them, smile and say “thank you for your feedback, what can I do to make you stay more enjoyable. “
My grandmother always told me, “kill them with kindness” when it comes to dealing with nasty people. Now, I am not the type of person to take a bunch of abuse from people, I will push back immediately and show them that I don’t take any crap. But there have been times, especially as a manager, that I have done this and many times those people will back right down, and be willing to have a reasonable conversation.
At times those Disney employees were almost robot like, and I would never suggest that, there has to be a happy medium between that smiling zombie and a doormat that continually gets abused by their patients. Give it a try this week with just one unruly patient and see how it works.
Feel like venting about crazy patients or workplace stress? Share your experiences in the Venting Zone!
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giftideasformen
over 1 year ago
102 comments
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JoeKeller
almost 2 years ago
52 comments
Imagine the brain effect when you enter a hospital and everybody welcomes you with a large smile and a very friendly attitude. I would like that, but on the other hand, it shouldn't be faked. That could make me feel worse than being treated indifferently. There has to be a balance.
NeilKirchoff
almost 2 years ago
10 comments
I recently went to a hospital (not giving the name) for a bulimia treatment. In my desire to loose weight I developed this disease and it was time to get cured. The people from that hospital treated me like I was trash and so I went to another hospital that made me feel like I am the king of the hill. In conclusion: yes, a good customer service is a must!
JimmyTT82
almost 2 years ago
16 comments
I visited a drug rehab in Santa Cruz last week and they do have a very nice customer service department. In their line of business that is essential, but I would like to see that in every hospital as well. That would surely increase the efficiency of the hospital and it would improve the relationship between hospital staff and patients.
Universalia
about 2 years ago
10 comments
I visited a drug rehab in California last week which was like the story you have here. My opinion is that the issue you speak about here is exactly what should be applied everywhere in the medical care system. Sometimes it might prove to be hard, but practice makes perfect.
NoelleC
about 2 years ago
8 comments
I was just browsing a breathalyzer test website and it happened for me to find your article here. It would be a nice to keep the smile on your face all the time, but working in medical care is not exactly all smiles all the times. There must be a certain limit that we need to highlight.
SSwaim
about 3 years ago
20 comments
No matter what field you are in as a nurse. It is very important as a nurse or caregiver to provide excellent customer service to whom ever you are providing the care for. Ive worked for cargiving agencies and when you provide care for their clients, it is so very very important to show extreme professionalism as a representative for that agency. It does not matter what kind of day you are having, when you step in to someone's home or even into a care facility, you need to leave that baggage at the door.