12
PATIENT
EXPERIENCE
10 Most Common Patient Complaints,
Grievances With Hospitals
By Heather Punke
P
atients are continually asking hospitals to be
treated like people, according to Peter Pron-
ovost, MD, PhD, director of the Armstrong
Institute for Patient Safety and Quality and senior
vice president for patient safety and quality at Balti-
more-based Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Dr. Pronovost worked with Jan Hill, Johns Hop-
kins' patient relations director, to compile a "patient
wish list," or the most common pieces of feedback
from patient letters or surveys. e list was pub-
lished in U.S. News & World Report.
e following are the 10 items compiled by Ms.
Hill and Dr. Pronovost, which they note should be
used as a conversation starter in healthcare:
1
Sleep deprivation
from clinicians
coming to do tests
and draw blood in the
middle of the night.
2
Noisy nurses' stations
that can interfere with
sleep.
3
Personal belongings
being lost.
4
Staff not knocking
before entering the
room, which can be
interpreted as a sign
of disrespect.
5
Not keeping whiteboards
updated. Updated
whiteboards allow patients to
know who is caring for them.
Patients would also appreciate
a notebook where they can
keep important information
and take notes.
6
Lack of clear
communication
and not updating
the patient or
family members if
the patient's
condition changes.
8
Feeling unengaged
in their care or like
they are not being
listened to.
9
Lack of orientation
to the room and
hospital. Patients
would like to know
how to work the
television and how
to order food.
10
Lack of profession-
alism from hospi-
tal staff, especially
when they are on
break. "While you
may be on your
break, you are still
a hospital employee
and a reflection of
the hospital," the
article reads.
7
Messy rooms where
surfaces aren't wiped
down, or the
bathroom smells.
