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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

 

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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
"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
"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
"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
"We look for someone who has been in nursing, and who can demonstrate customer service skills." 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
"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 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