Would Your Nursing Staff Recommend Your Hospital?

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN

I recently spoke with a new Chief Nursing Officer who expressed concern about clinical nursing care in her facility. She noted, “I am not sure that I would want to be hospitalized here and this is a terrible feeling to have. This is a difficult conversation to have with our staff and leadership but I believe that I am not alone in my feelings.” Based on conversations that I have had with nurse leaders across the country, she is not alone. One reason why nurses consistently hold the most trusted profession position in the Gallup poll is because they are so honest in expressing these feelings when asked by neighbors, family and friends. Healthcare leadership often assume that their staff favorably recommend their place of employment when asked but this is not always the case.

In a recent presentation at an OR Manager conference, Dr. Martin Mackary author of Unaccountable: What hospitals won’t tell you and how transparency can revolutionize healthcare made the point that staff willingness to recommend their hospital has proven to have a major correlation to safety and outcomes in his research. He routinely asks this question as part of his work with healthcare teams. The question is also asked of patients on the HCAHPS survey and publicly reported on the Medicare Hospital Compare Care Site. Interestingly, the current survey results on the site indicate that nationwide only 71% of patients recommend the hospital after a experience. Patients will only recommend our services to family or friends if they are satisfied with the quality of care, services provided, performance of hospital staff and medical outcome. The same is true of staff.

A good exercise to use with staff is to ask them to view their environment through the eyes of the patient, to be honest and to fill out the HCAHAPS Survey March 2013 Edition . This survey can be a good starting point to talk about ways to improve care especially if your HCAHPS scores are in need of improvement.

In his book, If Disney ran your Hospital, Fred Lee points out that while loyalty is an organization’s best source of long-term strategic advantage, it is the culture of an organization that will impact the patient care experience. Unlike traditional service organizations, Disney does not provide a service, he contends and neither does your hospital. They both provide an “experience”. “Loyalty is generated by memorable things that happen in an experience that we didn’t expect.” These memorable things and meaningful experiences don’t happen unless staff is engaged in their work and understand it’s impact. Five things that influence how both patients and staff feel about the hospital include the ability of staff to sense their needs before being asked, where it is obvious that staff help each other, where people’s feelings are acknowledged, where there is respect and dignity and where things are explained.

So would your nursing staff recommend your hospital? You won’t know unless you ask the question and are open to hearing an honest answer.

Read to Lead

Makary, M. (2012). Unaccountable: What hospitals won’t tell you and how transparency can revolutionize health care. Bloomsbury Press.

Lee, F. (2004). If Disney ran your Hospital: 9 1/2 things you would do differently. Second River Healthcare Press