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Should we tip nurses?
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Original post by nexttime
'Psst hey nurse, I'll give you a good 'tip' if you get me some extra morphine, what do you say?'
You may be remembering Dr. John Bodkin Adams who took tips and luxury cars from very wealthy, suicidal patients.
Or their next of kin who wanted rid.
As the poem went:
"After parting with a Bentley as a fee
So to liquidate your odd kin
By the needle of the bodkin
Send them down to sunny Eastbourne by the sea".
Original post by ThomH97
We live in a society that will (somewhat) happily give extra money to someone who smiles at them when bringing their food from the kitchen. This is despite them already being paid to do exactly that - it will be in their job description to do all the practical things and also have a welcoming manner.
Our nurses are also paid to do practical things, like taking readings, taking our poop away, giving us medicine etc, but they are also expected to have a good bedside manner. This reassuring presence (i.e. you're not going to die in the hands of someone who is only there to get paid) often means far more to us than someone being pleasant as they give us our food (i.e. they probably haven't snotted in it). However, we don't tend to tip nurses. And it isn't just because we don't tend to have cash on us when we're in the paper gowns with easy access buttflap.
What do you think?
Our nurses are also paid to do practical things, like taking readings, taking our poop away, giving us medicine etc, but they are also expected to have a good bedside manner. This reassuring presence (i.e. you're not going to die in the hands of someone who is only there to get paid) often means far more to us than someone being pleasant as they give us our food (i.e. they probably haven't snotted in it). However, we don't tend to tip nurses. And it isn't just because we don't tend to have cash on us when we're in the paper gowns with easy access buttflap.
What do you think?
No. No one should be tipped.
Original post by squeakysquirrel
We have to declare anything over the value of £10 I think.
We are doing our job and quite frankly I would be a bit insulted to get a tip. I would far rather you were nice to us because I get a bit fed up with rude and abusive patients. I would also rather you listened to our advice will when I tell you that you need to lose weight and stop smoking you don't take it as a personal insult but rather my efforts to help you get healthy.
I would also like patients to write in and tell me that I am kind ( if I have been) and say thank you. A nice thank you is honestly worth so much and a letter worth even more
We are doing our job and quite frankly I would be a bit insulted to get a tip. I would far rather you were nice to us because I get a bit fed up with rude and abusive patients. I would also rather you listened to our advice will when I tell you that you need to lose weight and stop smoking you don't take it as a personal insult but rather my efforts to help you get healthy.
I would also like patients to write in and tell me that I am kind ( if I have been) and say thank you. A nice thank you is honestly worth so much and a letter worth even more
Too much effort - most people would choose to tip over doing this
Original post by jameswhughes
NHS funding is £125 billion a year, Trident costs £2 billion a year.
I can see why some people don't want nuclear weapons, but I don't believe that scrapping the programme would make the slightest difference to the NHS.
I can see why some people don't want nuclear weapons, but I don't believe that scrapping the programme would make the slightest difference to the NHS.
The cost of replacing trident is £205 billion. That would certainly make more than 'the slightest difference to the NHS'.
Original post by black tea
Too much effort - most people would choose to tip over doing this
Hmm... So it is ok for us to have to fill in forms to declare tips but it is not ok for a patient to drop a quick email or even a card to say thank you. How sad we have become. To be honest your response depresses me immensely.
Are you an RGN?
Original post by squeakysquirrel
Hmm... So it is ok for us to have to fill in forms to declare tips but it is not ok for a patient to drop a quick email or even a card to say thank you. How sad we have become. To be honest your response depresses me immensely.
Yep - many years qualified. I am actually amazed at how poor patients are at saying thank you - they will say it at the time but very few take the time to actually put pen to paper or even email.
We have to revalidate every three years and part of that requires us to prove that we have positive feedback from others - mainly patients. Hard when there is no evidence.
I deal with bowel cancer and the amount of lives I have potentially saved by getting them to treatment early is quite astonishing. Yes - they say thank you at the time but so few will put it in writing.
We have to revalidate every three years and part of that requires us to prove that we have positive feedback from others - mainly patients. Hard when there is no evidence.
I deal with bowel cancer and the amount of lives I have potentially saved by getting them to treatment early is quite astonishing. Yes - they say thank you at the time but so few will put it in writing.
I’m not an RGN (just a HCA) but I too have the same problem; many of the patients have no problem verbalising their thanks or buying chocolates, sweets etc but they do seem to struggle to write it down. Thankfully patient references aren’t necessary for my continuing employment but I can sympathise that it must be difficult for you
Original post by squeakysquirrel
Yep - many years qualified. I am actually amazed at how poor patients are at saying thank you - they will say it at the time but very few take the time to actually put pen to paper or even email.
We have to revalidate every three years and part of that requires us to prove that we have positive feedback from others - mainly patients. Hard when there is no evidence.
I deal with bowel cancer and the amount of lives I have potentially saved by getting them to treatment early is quite astonishing. Yes - they say thank you at the time but so few will put it in writing.
We have to revalidate every three years and part of that requires us to prove that we have positive feedback from others - mainly patients. Hard when there is no evidence.
I deal with bowel cancer and the amount of lives I have potentially saved by getting them to treatment early is quite astonishing. Yes - they say thank you at the time but so few will put it in writing.
Er..... none of the......just an hca...... HCA s are some of the best care providers. We have two in our department who are brilliant. Loved by patients and really good at their job. Much better than some of the band 5 nurses.
Don't put yourself down.
Don't put yourself down.
Thank you 
I try my best for each patient and at the end of the day that’s all anybody can do. Nurses are the real thing though; the amount of responsibility you have and the pittance of pay, recognition and rewards you all get is disgusting. If it were up to me to run the NHS I’d be slashing the managers salaries and topping up Nurse salaries because frankly most nurses perform miracles
I try my best for each patient and at the end of the day that’s all anybody can do. Nurses are the real thing though; the amount of responsibility you have and the pittance of pay, recognition and rewards you all get is disgusting. If it were up to me to run the NHS I’d be slashing the managers salaries and topping up Nurse salaries because frankly most nurses perform miracles Original post by squeakysquirrel
Er..... none of the......just an hca...... HCA s are some of the best care providers. We have two in our department who are brilliant. Loved by patients and really good at their job. Much better than some of the band 5 nurses.
Don't put yourself down.
Don't put yourself down.
I disagree for these reasons:
1) Agree with posts re. gives government excuse not to raise wages.
2) Health professionals have a professional duty and should not accept personal gifts ESPECIALLY of monetary value.
3) We have a code of conduct to deliver the highest standard of care regardless and this should be the norm NOT an incentive.
4) The point at which accepting tips becomes standard leaves it open to abuse/coersion by a small number of individuals.
5) Will affect the public reputation of health professionals.
1) Agree with posts re. gives government excuse not to raise wages.
2) Health professionals have a professional duty and should not accept personal gifts ESPECIALLY of monetary value.
3) We have a code of conduct to deliver the highest standard of care regardless and this should be the norm NOT an incentive.
4) The point at which accepting tips becomes standard leaves it open to abuse/coersion by a small number of individuals.
5) Will affect the public reputation of health professionals.
whatever). Maybe if it's a nurse (or related healthcare professional) that the patient (or their family) has a longer term relationship with, e.g. a long term or live-in carer or nurse, a midwife who has been working with the mother-to-be throughout the pregnancy etc...even then I think it'd probably be better to stick with a gift of thanks than a monetary tip.
Obviously it would be better to "tip" them by voting in a government that will stop building nuclear submarines and instead funnel that entirely pointless waste of tax revenue far more productively into the NHS, so they can get better pay and working conditions. Alas...
You scrap the trident system you leave the whole of the Uk vulnerable, that is just how the world works I'm afraid
Obviously it would be better to "tip" them by voting in a government that will stop building nuclear submarines and instead funnel that entirely pointless waste of tax revenue far more productively into the NHS, so they can get better pay and working conditions. Alas...
You scrap the trident system you leave the whole of the Uk vulnerable, that is just how the world works I'm afraid
Original post by squeakysquirrel
Yep - many years qualified. I am actually amazed at how poor patients are at saying thank you - they will say it at the time but very few take the time to actually put pen to paper or even email.
We have to revalidate every three years and part of that requires us to prove that we have positive feedback from others - mainly patients. Hard when there is no evidence.
I deal with bowel cancer and the amount of lives I have potentially saved by getting them to treatment early is quite astonishing. Yes - they say thank you at the time but so few will put it in writing.
We have to revalidate every three years and part of that requires us to prove that we have positive feedback from others - mainly patients. Hard when there is no evidence.
I deal with bowel cancer and the amount of lives I have potentially saved by getting them to treatment early is quite astonishing. Yes - they say thank you at the time but so few will put it in writing.
Many of them probably don't write a thank you letter because they fear it will be seen as inappropriate. Especially if the writer is a man and the recipient is a woman.
@moonkatt
What do you reckon?
How paranoid would a person have to be to not write a thank you card because the recpient is of the opposite gender?
What do you reckon?
Original post by Pachuco
Many of them probably don't write a thank you letter because they fear it will be seen as inappropriate. Especially if the writer is a man and the recipient is a woman.
How paranoid would a person have to be to not write a thank you card because the recpient is of the opposite gender?
A thank you card and some chocolates/biscuits/a fruit basket is a much better option than money in these situations. Money could be seen as trying to ensure priority or preferential treatment next time, which takes away from the level playing field that the NHS should be. But, some chocolates to pass around the nurses can be a big morale booster during a difficult shift.
Original post by Democracy
@moonkatt
What do you reckon?
How paranoid would a person have to be to not write a thank you card because the recpient is of the opposite gender?
What do you reckon?
How paranoid would a person have to be to not write a thank you card because the recpient is of the opposite gender?
Not quite what I said but OK.
Original post by Democracy
@moonkatt
What do you reckon?
How paranoid would a person have to be to not write a thank you card because the recpient is of the opposite gender?
What do you reckon?
How paranoid would a person have to be to not write a thank you card because the recpient is of the opposite gender?
A patient actually tried to tip me when I was a student nurse.
When I used to work on itu we got a relatively steady stream of chocolates and biscuits from relatives, we used to get a fair amount of letters and cards from people.
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