Excellent Customer Service in Health Care - The Greatest Nurse I Ever Met

*This is my "thank you" to the great nurses of the world. You are a gift to everyone who is fortunate to be served by you.*

I love exceptional customer service. Everything about it. I love that those who serve do not think of themselves as servants, but as service professionals. They enjoy making others feel special. They go out of their way to "Wow". For these service superstars, service is not what they do, it is "who they are". This is why I cringe when I hear healthcare professionals say "I didn't go to school to serve people". Huh? Yes...I've heard that exact quote several times. Hospitality means to take care of others, and guess what the root word is in hospitality. You guessed it...hospital. I firmly believe that healthcare IS the highest form of hospitality.

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As a healthcare provider, the ENTIRE purpose of your job is to help, assist, empathize and take care of others. All those words mean to serve. Of course, not everyone is meant to serve other people. We have all seen those individuals. That's fine if you don't like to serve...just get a job that doesn't require you to serve. If everyone is not meant to serve, then even fewer people are meant to be healthcare providers. Other people (especially inpatients) are completely dependent on you.

This brings me to The Greatest Nurse I Ever Met. This nurse works in a hospital in Annapolis, MD, where my cousin was an inpatient for almost two months. I visited him frequently over that two-month period and saw the care he received firsthand. Even though most of my training and consulting clients are in the healthcare industry, I must admit that this was the first time that I truly "felt" and understood just how important nurses are. From my perspective, they account for the vast majority of the patient service experience. The physician would do her rounds in the morning and might spend 5 - 7 minutes with my cousin, then leave. It was the nursing team who supervised and administered the healthcare for the rest of the day. It was the nurses who were called if my cousin needed something. It was the nurses who listened when he had an immediate concern. If the hospital is a building, then the nurses are the heart and soul of that building.

One of my favorite books is If Disney Ran Your Hospital. There is an interesting quote that reads, "Hospitals don't have patients, doctors do". That powerful statement is true in many cases. However, I can now see how offensive that statement can be to nurses who build enduring relationships with their patients and patients' families. Nurses cry, laugh, and spend time with their patients all-day, everyday.

So during my cousin's inpatient stay, one exceptional nurse was Stacy. Besides her exceptional clinical acumen, her warmth and eagerness to serve seemed just as potent as any medication that was given to my cousin. As an inpatient, he was fortunate to have received multiple flowers for his room. After a few days, he ran out of vases to put them in, so Stacy said, "I'll make you one!" She promptly got a disposable styrofoam water pitcher and cut the top off to make an impromptu flower vase. I refer to that as a touchpoint deposit, and when there are deposits, I say Cha-Ching!

Stacy didn't stop there. Since my cousin knew that he would be in the hospital for, at least, a few months, he asked for some good places to order food from in the surrounding area that could be picked up or delivered. She could have easily referred him to the hospital's concierge, but that would go against her service ethics. Stacy is a nurse who "works like she owns it", so she gave him a hand-written list of her favorite restaurants and next to each restaurant, she noted the approximate distance from the hospital and type of cuisine. She even put a star next to the ones she really liked. Cha-Ching!

Each week, the inpatients receive a menu of food offerings from the hospital's cafeteria. Since Stacy knew my cousin would be staying for a while, she got him a menu for the entire month. Cha-Ching!

When Stacy entered the room, each day she beamed "Good Morning Sunshine! So here's the plan for today." Being in a potentially depressing situation, as my cousin was in, it was refreshing to have an upbeat, positive personality to take the edge off being confined to a hospital bed for an extended period of time. Cha-Ching!

After his daily bed bath, Stacy would get him a warm towel and change his bed sheets using warm sheets and blankets. Cha-Ching!

In short, Stacy made him feel like he was her only patient. She never complained or talked about her workload or how many patients "they" gave her. She never complained about her bosses, co-workers or the hospital (at least not in my presence, or within earshot). In fact, she was one of the only nurses we did not hear bad-talking or gossiping in the hallway. Yes, patients can hear everything that is being said in the hallway. In fact, she beamed about the hospital, only spoke positively and even bragged about the hospital's expansion plans. That is being a true ambassador.

So, Stacy is the greatest nurse I ever met, and I'm sure there are several more "Stacys" in the world. As an observer of Stacy's care, I felt privileged to have seen her in action, and I am sure she is humbled that she gets to do what she loves to do everyday...and gets paid for it. Service is not what she does, service is who she is.

Excellent Customer Service in Health Care - The Greatest Nurse I Ever Met

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About the Author

Dr. Bryan K. Williams is the Chief Service Officer of B. Williams Enterprise, LLC. He is a service expert, who has facilitated workshops and delivered keynotes all over the world for various companies. Bryan speaks on a variety of topics related to service excellence, employee engagement, and organizational improvement. As a consultant he works closely with companies to design, develop, and implement sustainable service strategies.

Email: info@bwenterprise.net

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