Today I was going to write about either a far too short long weekend or about kids consuming social media. But Lucy has been sick and so, instead, I’m talking about customer service skills.
On Monday night, Lucy and I visited our local Emergency Room. She’d been vomiting all afternoon and had begun melting down to the bathroom floor, writhing and wailing in the moments before she tossed her cookies. It worried me. And it had been hours since she had any cookies to toss; instead, she was retching bile. Dehydration became a real concern.
We arrived at 8 pm and it was after 10:30 pm when we were seen. In that span, my baby had done the writhing retching thing 4 or 5 times in the waiting room. Then the golden (or red) gates (or door) opened and let us into a small private room in the Pediatric ER, where people introduced themselves to us and spoke in soft kind voices to my daughter. I was listened to and helped, and Lucy was evaluated and comforted. Despite the fact that an IV was administered, a urine sample obtained, and blood was given, both Lucy and I were comfortable in the level of compassion and attention and heart we received.
But at 11:30 the unit shut down, and my small child was moved from the cocoon of the pediatric unit to the barroom of the general population. I am not pretending that a young kid needing some extra fluids necessitates constant oversight. But had I not initiated introductions with her new nurse, they would not have been considered. An hour later, when the pump administering fluids to my daughter’s IV started beeping maniacally, I had to ask a group of nurses chatting about a TV show across the hall for assistance (much to their frustration), and even then, it was several minutes before they found “our” nurse. In fact, between the hours for midnight and 3 am, we saw our nurse twice. Once when he shut off the beeping and once when we were being discharged. We were never given the test results, and by then I did not ask, as I wanted only to bring my baby home.
All I am saying is this: many jobs require customer service: smiles, welcomes, kindnesses and efforts to understand change the entire experience for your customer. Ask: is there anything you need?
by Megin Hatch
Photo graciously provided by the author, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.
3 responses so far ↓
Angela Goff // May 30, 2008 at 10:48 am
Is your baby ok? The hospital emergency room never seems to be a good experience, aside from the reason you’re there. I used to avoid the ER and always went to those small clinics like Emergicare or Readycare. They are often open all night, insurance covers them, and for people like me who could not afford insurance, those places cost around $75 to $150 for a visit commpared to the ER that cost about $1000 to $10,000, not exaggerating. Hospitals have succumbed to capitalism, and we are no longer people to them, only dollar signs. Sorry Meg, but I don’t think there is an answer to this right now. Please let us know how your little one is doing.
Megin Hatch // May 30, 2008 at 11:00 am
Angela- Blessedly, yes. This is day 2 without symptoms. She had an xray yesterday and it all looked ok. If she continues without symptoms then we’ll chalk it up to a virus. And if not, well then we face things like air enemas.
But today- she is herself, thank you for asking
We tried an urgent care place, but they close at 8. And the pedi er is undergoing renovations which will mean 24/7, so at least there is that.
Thanks for coming by and reminding me to post an update
Angela Goff // May 30, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Good to hear it. I hope it will be a happy weekend.
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