Thursday, March 10, 2005

PRMC

Has anyone noticed the quality of care in this place? Seems like we've gone from bad to worse. They pump money into the lobby, but the wheelchairs are ricketty and the staff seems to be short. The ER is new, but beds that won't raise aren't that uncommon. They finally put up signs (as generic as they could), but the lights are out in the elevator buttons.

The nuns are gone, but what did we get in their place? Bean counters that switch CFOs like socks. ER docs that throw tests at the wall to see if they stick.

I tried to put in a suggestion when I was visiting, but there weren't any forms...guess they know everything....

Apparently they're buying another hospital or two...hopefully those communities will get better results....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

When Essent took over it was pie in the sky and a chicken in every pot...it turned out to be bread and water. "Those employees who stick through the change-over period will be rewarded." The few of us who have stuck it out are still waiting. Evidently, Essent speaks with a 'forked tongue.'

The community has seen both the quality and the level of healthcare drop considerably. Now, instead of seasoned nursing staff, we have a bunch of kids whose only concern is sitting at the nurses station visiting with each other.

The nurses aides are the real caregivers and the patients know it.

The considerable lack of management skills among the department directors is deplorable.
Should a problem arise the 'pat' answer is "I don't have the authority to do anything about that."

No one outside the city of Nashville seems to be able to do anything.

And as far as seasoned medical staff not being considered valuable...who would you like to start your next IV? A nurse just out of school or a nurse with ten years of experience. Or would you rather have a respiratory tech that can anticipate problems or one that only experiences them.

What if you or a family member were to be involved in a cardiovascular incident or motor vehicle accident.... Do you want a seasoned team of professionals or new graduates, fresh from school without the experience to keep you alive?

Are we aiming for quality care or just selecting the lowest bidder?

Anonymous said...

reguarding the comment that seasoned staff members or those who "stick it out" will be rewarded, my question is With WHAT exactly? A five cent (if that) raise for 6,7, and 8 years experience? Or perhaps the joy of being consistently 2 or 3 nurses short
and being told to "do the best you can"
It is a fact that "new" help is cheaper and that seems to be the bottom line with this company. Articles in The Paris News all contain quotes from administrators about how much they value patient care, but if that were the case perhaps the emphasis would be on compensating staff and realistic nurse to patient ratios. At present the focus is preventing overtime and recruiting new grads (cheaper payroll), and by all means keeping up with patient charges!!
Not to mention having administrative
employees with NO medical experience
or comprehension of how a nursing unit operates come up with a new MATRIX that cuts staff to the absolute bone. God forbid a patient that needs acute attention or requires anything but the bare minimum of care! Even seasoned employees struggle on a daily basis
simply due to the acuity and amount of patients we are expected to accept. And let's not forget the 3 day suspension without pay threat if we acknowledge a question or comment by a patient regarding the fact that we are "short staffed."
Nice employee retention incentive Essent!
Almost as good as paying agency nurses three to four times the salary of your PREVIOUSLY dedicated employees...when all that was necessary in the beginning was to give us the raises we deserve.
But instead, let's focus on firing anyone who makes a derogatory (yet TRUTHFUL) comment about our LOVELY parent company. Then we'll be really short staffed and bring in strangers at more than double the salaries we could have been paying regular, experienced staff members who were already familiar with the units!!!
Yea, dosen't THAT sound like a GREAT idea!!!???

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have a solution to this quagmire? How about the city of paris staging a buyout or at least buying into the hospital enough so that we the people (shareholders) would have a say in how the damn thing is run? There HAS to be a solution outthere. Come on people let's brainstorm.