Nursing officer pleased with customer satisfaction report

The Washington County Hospital and Clinics Board of Trustees met Thursday afternoon. Chief Nursing Officer Bonnie Kester spoke about the most recent customer satisfaction report from Press Ganey, a firm that measures patient satisfaction through surveys. The report covered patient surveys received from the months of April, May and June. Kester said in an interview that the report was mostly positive. Kester said the positive reviews are a result of calling the patients after they leave the hospital to see how they?re doing.

?When patients go home, we always call them to make sure they understand their discharge instructions and if they are able to fill their prescriptions,? she said. ?When that is done, it decreases readmissions to the hospital.?

Kester also said the hospital is doing more to keep its patients informed about the tests they?ll go through and what they can expect while they?re in the hospital.

?We?ve got white boards in the patients? rooms that tell them when they?re due for things,? she said. ?We have a binder that explains their tests and treatments.?

Kester said the veteran nurses have a way of speaking to patients that puts them at ease.

?When we go into patients? rooms, we say, ?Is there anything else I can do for you??? she said. ?When we?re not reinforcing that or when new staff aren?t aware of that or not as comfortable saying it, that?s when we notice the dips in patient satisfaction.?

Kester said another thing the nurses do to improve patient satisfaction is to make it obvious that they care about their privacy by closing doors for them and by saying, ?Your privacy is important to us.?

?We try to verbalize back to them the things they are later asked about,? she said. ?They?ll think, ?Oh yeah, they were attentive to my needs. They asked me what I needed before they left the room.??

Kester said the hospital?s goal is to increase the ?likelihood to recommend.? To that end, the hospital learns what patients want by calling them and asking them, ?Is there any reason that would prevent you from recommending our hospital.?

The board of trustee?s next meeting is Sept. 29.