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Employer Quotes

The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Health Care

They are talking about this topic: General Skills

 

The quotes below are about this issue:
Many employers feel that an increasing number of students are entering nursing due to high salaries or an interest in technology (as opposed to the primary goal of helping people). Employers feel such workers do not exhibit the expected level of care for patients and their families. Therefore, entry-level hires need stronger skills in patient care and communication. This includes increasing their ability to be hospitable, advocate for patients, anticipate needs, resolve conflict and communicate effectively.

Employer Quote Region
"I've actually had nurses tell me, 'This isn't what I signed up for. I'm a nurse. I'm not a counselor.' And it's like, 'Actually, that's part of the job.'" Central
"I think they understand the technical side, but they don't know how to share information effectively without causing anger to the family and the patient." Central
"I think that another struggle that I see in the soft skills area is the ability to handle conflict, particularly in situations where it's really important. Maybe it's an issue of a patient's safety. And so do they have the skill set to address difficult topics or issues? Are they going to be able to step up to that conversation when the need arises? Because that's a skill that we learn and get more comfortable with as we practice it. And we see people struggle with that." Central
"We really look for a focus on the patient and family-centered care. If that's not there, what's the motivation of the person in terms of why they want to work in health care? Or why they want to work in our organization? Is the job all about how it affects the nurse and his or her work? Or is it about how we can do the best job for our patients? So, having that perspective is one of the underlying things that we look for. If I have someone with that perspective, I'm going to be more accommodating to providing additional training for technical skills. I can't really train for that other component though." Central
"Communication, too. It seems that's a big issue. Even just communicating with—not just me as the director—but family members and residents. I mean, I run a memory care unit, so even interacting with the dementia patients—that level of communication is just not there." Central
"Don't say, 'I don't know.' I had a nurse that did that. A family member would ask her, 'Why is my mom doing this?' And the nurse would say, 'I don't know.' Families don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear that. My employees don't want to hear that. At some point in time communication needs to be taught to them. I'm not sure what the appropriate way to do that is, but they need the interpersonal skills to deal with doctors, other nurses, upset families, and upset residents." Central
"I think what we've seen over the course of time is that health care used to be very technical in nature, and so the nurse was the nurse and had the authority. And the same with physicians. Nobody questioned the doctors or the nurses. Today, they are being questioned all of the time—and rightfully so with all of the information on the internet and all of the education that society has—but what nurses need is a level of professionalism to deal with those questions. They come out of school with technical skills, but they can't function in the real world. Maybe they're dealing with a blood test and those types of things, and they understand how to do those things. But they don't know how to talk to people. And it angers them because it angers the patient or their families." Central
"What we're seeing is that care is becoming much more complex. We need people who can think critically and act on their feet. We need people who are good not only with family members, but also with physicians and other team members. They need to take that leadership role. We really think that the education level of the RN needs to go up." Metro
"What I hear from nurse managers—with students or even the newer grads that they hire—is they don't seem to anticipate people's needs. Like, patients are having to use their call light quite a bit because nurses aren't going in there and asking, 'What can I do for you?' And that may be a culture thing at our facility, but it just seems like maybe the younger generation can't find a way to anticipate people's needs." Northeast
"I have a couple of older LPNs that retired, and then came back to work. They went to school quite a long time ago, and their biggest complaint that they always bring to me is, 'What happened to a ward order?' That's where—at the end of your shift—you make sure all your patients have a clean room, water, everything was in reach, their needs met, everything's taken care of so that, when the new nurse comes on for that shift, everything's ready to go. But now, garbage isn't being emptied. Patients don't have all their needs met. The attitude is just, 'Let's get these meds passed. Let's do our charting and then get out the door.' So, the ward order is not being taken care of. And it sounds crazy, but I remember when I just started out in nursing, every day at 2:30 you went from room to room to room and you made sure everything was clean and neat and ready for the next shift. Now, that's gone. The politeness to your co-workers is gone." Northeast
"Granted each person is different, whether they're outgoing or not, but the basic nursing skills—the technical skills—are done very well at all the schools. But the social skills, the caring skills, the customer service skills, the hospitality, all those qualities and skills that make you a good health care provider are sometimes lacking. And it's not just nurses, it's also with physicians, social workers, everybody—everybody needs to get the caring part. Going back to why nursing came about: It's about trying to make people well, caring for them, and looking at the whole person, not just the broken leg. What's going on at the patient's home? What are their finances? What is their spirituality? You can tell I come from hospice, but it's looking at the whole picture and not just the incision or the broken leg." Northeast
"It may be that the young people, I'm beginning to wonder, are sort of missing the context that you used to take for granted? Because 10 to 20 years ago, relationships were all based on face-to-face communication between people. So, I don't know." Northeast
"We look for someone who has been in nursing, and who can demonstrate customer service skills." Northeast
"I feel that 20 years ago, nurses went into the field to care for patients. Now, it seems, a lot of nurses are going into the field for money. And I think there's a big difference. I get a lot of nurses that don't have the caring part of nursing. They don't have the communication skills to work effectively with families. And with the Affordable Health Care Act, patients are going to be wiser about what they want and they're going to be more demanding and picky. So, your employees need to be able to deal with consumers who are demanding and who want more. It's a different world than it was 20 years ago." Northeast
"Before, I just had to go to work, be a good nurse, take care of people, and write it on the charts. And the chart did tell the story. But now we have electronic medical records with built-in charts and graphs and things. And that electronic data can be good for prevention, too. I mean, there are all kinds of good things about all of it." Northeast
"The caring that they're talking about is a face-to-face thing. You're lying in a bed. You're sick. You're tired. You have whatever health problems, and I'm taking care of you. That's a face-to-face interaction. But face-to-face interactions are becoming less and less common. A lot of stuff is done by email. A lot of stuff is done by Facebook. You're Googling to get information. Maybe you're taking a class online, so you're even emailing your professor. So, many younger students get the message that face-to-face interactions might be optional." Northeast
"It's got to be a combination. Traditionally, nursing homes were based on a very medical model of care, but a huge culture change has moved it toward this very social model of care. There still has to be the foundation of medical skills that meet the needs of the patients, but we look at our residents in a more holistic view of care—so, they don't come in as a hip fracture, but as Sally. And Sally has this whole history. We look at the whole patient and the whole family." Northwest
"We're blending the social model and the medical model very well right now; we're trying to keep that social feel and that home feel." Northwest
"Employer 1: I think as far as the clinical skills—definitely—those skills are there. But, nowadays, many nursing homes are swinging away from the medical model. It's more of a social model. So, that brings a new light on nursing, too.

Question: So, are you saying that we've got to have more of these students in this new nursing home model? When you study to be a nurse, do you specifically say that you want to work in a nursing home? Or in a hospital? Or a...?

Employer 1: You get it all. From OB, to med-surg, to nursing home, you get it all. You do rotations.

Question: But it sounds like the nurse that's going to work in a nursing home is going to need a whole different skill set?

Employer 1: They need strengths in soft skills. It's a social—it's a medical model, but it has a very social model feel to it. It deals with families and [lost in translation].

Question: And is the social aspect becoming more important?

Employer 1: Absolutely.

Employer 2: Yeah.

Employer 1: It is very important."
Northwest
"They want all the bells and whistles and all the technology that they can have. And the more technology you throw at new nurses, the more they just gobble it up. They just love it. But dealing with maybe death and dying, family issues, crisis—that's where it's very challenging for them. And sometimes, the longer they're going through their orientation, they get to a point where they're like, 'Oh, my gosh, I didn't realize I was going to be doing all this, and my patient never talks to me...' You know, it's difficult when a family is in crisis. That's really a tough one for students." Northwest
"They need to understand the need for individualized person-centered care." Northwest
"Build that understanding and that awareness into their basic skill set of establishing rapport and introducing themselves to the client. Those first few moments are critical. That awareness is huge." Northwest
"At our hospital, we have ongoing training for a lot of our staff. It's called Crucial Conversations. And there's also a part of it that's called Crucial Confrontations that we have literature about, but we haven't actually taught it yet. But what I hear in terms of feedback from the staff is that it's been extremely helpful—not only in the workplace but also in their personal lives. And that is one thing that could be very helpful I would think just from the feedback that we've had. So, it seems something like that might be helpful and might better prepare them for the types of things that they will encounter in the workplace." Southeast
"We don't have any of the nursing nurses on staff at our place, but even with the techs—a lot of them are exercise science majors at [MnSCU college]—they have that clinical background but they struggle with the communication skills. And we work with the public, so every day you work face-to-face with multiple people. You have to have those skills when you interact with staff and patients." Southeast
"Something that I think is dominant in the senior services arena, although we have it the hospital as well, is the communication issue. And it's not just about communicating effectively with a resident or a patient, it's also includes communicating with family members. I think people would be shocked—well, maybe you wouldn't be—at how many family issues are out there. When you bring in younger people, they are often in a dynamic that is way over their heads in terms of what is going on and reading all of those signals and trying to manage them. And sometimes they don't agree with you, and sometimes they don't agree with the person who's getting the care, and then there are arguments and things like that. This happens at least ten times a day. And I think being able to navigate that is enormous. It's a huge challenge for young people. It's even a challenge for older people who have some skills doing that. But it is a daily-times-ten occurrence. It's just a constant. And I think it overwhelms young people, like they think, 'These people are nuts.'" Southeast
"To make the families understand, you need to have daily communication with them." Southeast
"And a lot of people aren't dealing—especially in the older population—with the dying process. Or that as a potential. And so they don't ever talk about these kinds of things, and then they find themselves in more of a crisis situation, and then it sort of blows up. And it's just a dynamic. Some of it's sort of the natural kinds of things, but it's because those discussions don't happen there—and putting staff in the middle of those things—some are very good at it. But I would tell you that's a small group of them. I think most people get really overwhelmed by that kind of situation. So, just that kind of skill, like how you deal with these crucial conversations. Having them understand their role in those kinds of things would be a critical piece on the communication side." Southeast
"Is there a way we can integrate those two so that they work together to bring back the compassion that health care services are supposed to offer?" Southeast