Do nurses & doctors get away with poor quality standards because they are such a political hot potatoe?

Question

The general quality standards that exist at ward level in hospitals are Far Far lower than exists in the pathology Lab for example. I'm talking mainly about a "mind set" here. A Biomedical Scientist (whom the general public probably don't even know exists), strives to ensure every single result issued is accurate. Yet the same degree of quality simply does not exist at ward level. I can't begin to understand why?

Answer 1

Firstly you are talking about pure science in a pathology lab, very easy to get exact results with all the equipment to help you.

patients often present with many different symptoms and complications of various illnesses which therefore is not an exact science. Add to that the fact that patients are much more demanding than a blood sample and have greater needs!
Doctors and nurses are understaffed most of the time, through no fault of their own but all strive to provide the best care they can and to the highest quality.

Answer 2

I am an RN who has worked over 35 years in the field. Much of it on general medical wards and in ICU's. The quality of care given is poor to bad. There are several reasons for this some involve MD's some involve nurses

1. As has been stated the public cannot distinguish good care from bad.

2. The pace of work on the wards is patient driven - there is not the time to assure the level of quality that can be attained in the controlled environment of a clinical lab.

3. Physicians are the last major group of workers in the country who are doing piece work - that is they are paid more based on the number of patients they treat. Piecework always leads to poor quality.

4. Hospital management knows that their largest cost factor is staffing. As such, they strive to use the smallest number of least trained people that the regulatory standards will allow. Many times, they will "cook the books" by having a nursing supervisor also act as a staff nurse on a unit. Therefore getting a twofer and further reducing patient care. I have seen RN to Patient ratios as high as 25 to 1. You cannot effectively monitor patient care for that many people - even by giving up lunch, breaks, or voiding for eight hours. It just cannot be done. Hospitals have also cheapened the workforce by putting everyone possible into scrubs and letting the public think they are all nurses. In most hospitals, you cannot tell an RN from a housekeeper.

Answer 3

You are talking about two different situations that can not be compared. In a science lab there is control down the the smallest detail. This is part of the science, the need to be able to assure the result repeatedly. In a hospital there are numerous human factors that play into effect. And before I get into this I would like to stand up for doctors and nurses. It is not poor quality in the hospitals it is, they are human, everyone makes mistakes. But even more than that they are extremely overworked in the hospital enviorment. When you are looking at the Emergency room, they are trying to work with minimum information, while not being able to move patients either because there are no available beds. You have the patients that didnt communicate with the staff, you have the dependence on more information that you need but don't have because of the time crunch. Most doctors and nurses strive to provide the best care that they can. Before judging them, try talking to them. And by the way Doctors may do well financially, they also attended more than at minimum 9 years of schooling. Nurses however who have attended at least 5 years of school are severely underpaid. Along with teachers, police/fire, nursing is a severely underpaid professions

Answer 4

I work in a challenging environment with challenging behaviours being exhibited by the vast majority of my patients. I am an RN, Adult trained (used to be called General) and am a specialist in the clinical treatment of substance misuse. I am also "first on the scene" when dealing with hangings. slashings. stabbings and other attacks, seizures and heart attacks and other medical emergencies.

Are you suggesting that I have a mind set other than giving the highest standard of care?

As an NHS Nurse I am dedicated to treating patients with my utmost. I am a member of the trust infection control committee. I cannot understand how you can generalise about quality. We have regular audits to ensure that we comply with guidleines, protocols and procedures. I am responsible for mainting these protocols, procedures and guidelines too. Audits are performed by the NHS and by another organisation to which my unit is attached.

On what grounds do you suggest that my quality standards are lower than yours? It is a different type of science but that does not make the quality lower. I do everything that I can to maintain qs in my unit. My unit manager is dedicated to developing our centre to be a centre of excellence and the team are behind her 100%, we are at work for 14 hours a day.

On the other hand - surely the public know you exist - they would hardly expect a nurse to be analysing their blood samples etcetera would they?

Answer 5

At the risk of offending practising practitioners - nurses and doctors who have answered here .... my answer would be yes .... and I think I can speak for a lot of people ..... I appreciate the job you do, I appreciate the difficult atmosphere you work in, I appreciate the difficult circumstances and clients you work with ..... however I and many others have seen with our own eyes and experienced personally the low/poor quality standards exhibited by many of your peers - unfortunately for you - you are obviously of the minority - which is the biggest shame of all ...... however, when people are left in corridors for hours, when basic health and hygiene standards are not met, let alone maintained, when whenever a complaint is made ranks are closed to all 'outsiders' ie the general public ..... it's no wonder we, most of us, feel like this ......
Instead of complaining about us complaining, the good doctors and nurses actually had the courage to name and shame their lesser peers - instead of closing ranks - then maybe you would feel less affronted and more encouraged by the fewer complaints and increase in compliments that would inevitably be incurred as a result ......

Answer 6

Having worked 20 years in and around hospitals. I have found a marked descent in the care given in any hospital. The HOT potato does not come into play. For the most part it is the drop of personal that are well trained. I now work in the OR. More and more I see new nurses coming in very few are good and many are dangerous. This goes to the floors to.

Answer 7

Sure they are and is all about money. The political part is lawyers sueing good doctors out of general practice and insurance companies trying to make money. It was not that way in the 50's so why did everything go so bad so fast? I think we need more doctors and less lawyers, better yet let doctors leglistate lawyers rather than the other way around. I hope this helps you better or try to understand but Why and how are beyond me.

Answer 8

Its life my friend. I have heard of Biomedical Scientist since when I was at college I was going to do a course called 'Biomedical Sciences', but I instead studied 'Health Studies'. Most nurses and doctors may get away with poor standards of their work because there isn't simply enough of them around today. I am studying to be a nurse and unfortunately we do have a lot of policies and code of conducts that we have to strictly adhere to. The hospitals your talking about are government funded NHS services. I bet you these poor standards wouldn't even exist in 50- 60% of private hospitals.

Answer 9

I do believe that its a "individual" standard as well.

You and I both know "perfectionist" and "slackers", so when the professional "bar" is set so low than that's the expectations you will receive.
As a health care professional myself, I have seen it from the Best hospice care to the poorest. Its not just money it the passion of the health care worker or scientist, along with the material that you have to work with in the situation.

Trust me- I am just as dedicated in the barrios of south Texas as I am in the middle of the med-center in Houston. Humans need us to trust that we will give them best possible care, that we can.


Good question- I agree its not political its financial- the insurance and drug companies are the "powers that be at present".

Answer 10

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