The Patient Complaint Lodge System Essay

Nurses have the primary responsibility of ensuring that their patients are well attended to while they are admitted in hospitals. However, sometimes the patients may feel that they have not been attended to as per their expectations (Lighter, 2011). This may be because of the negligence of some of the hospital employees, over the expectations of the patients, or any other reason that tend to make them feel that they deserve more than what is offered to them (Means & Rankin, 2010).

The best way of determining whether or not a patient is satisfied is to create a System that allows the patients to communicate with relevant authorities to express their dissatisfaction. In order for the system to work effectively, there should be a flow of activities, from the time the patient lodges the complaint, to the time his or her problem is addressed by the relevant authority (Sharma & Sharma, 2007). In this study, the focus is to create a flowchart that describes the patient complaint lodge system.

The Patient Complaint Lodge System Flowchart
As the name suggests, this flowchart seeks to describe the when a patient makes a complaint. According to Siegler, Mirafzali and Foust (2003), sometimes the complaints made by the patients fail to reach the relevant authorities because of poor communication systems. In such cases, the problem of the patient may not be addressed because the officers who should be addressing them do not receive the information (Sower, Duffy & Kohers, 2008).

This is what the researcher seeks to address by developing this flowchart of specific activities involved in this process. The diagram below shows a simple flowchart that should be followed by the officer responsible for this department whenever a patient lodges any complaint.

The Patient Complaint Lodge System Flowchart
The Activities Involved at the Above Processes
Initiation of the process
The first process in this system is the initiation of the communication which starts off the process. This first step is done by the patient who may not be satisfied with the services offered. The may be a phone or a messaging system (Andersen & Galloway, 2008). There are no strict policies on how complaints should be made. The organization should allow the patients to make complaints any time they feel dissatisfied. To execute the step, the patient must have a valid complaint.

Receiving the communication
The process of receiving the complaints is specifically meant for the nurse in charge. She will need a messaging system and a phone to make the direct communication with the patients. The policy guiding this process is that it is only the nurse in charge who is on duty that is allowed to execute the process (Kavaler, Alexander & Kavaler, 2014). In order to execute this process, the nurse in charge must ensure that the message comes through a recognized channel.

Determining the identity of the patient and reason for communication
In this process, the nurse in charge will need to determine if the information comes from a registered patient at the facility. The nurse will need a computer system connected to a database to identify the patient based on the policies of the hospital. To execute the process, the identity of the patient must be confirmed.

Making a decision if the communication is a complaint
The nurse in charge will need to make a personal decision if the communication from the patient is a complaint. This may not , but the nurse must stick to the policies of the hospital. The nurse will need to ensure that the communication policies of the hospital are followed closely.

Making a decision if the complaint can be addressed immediately
The nurse will then analyze the complaint and determine when it can be addressed. A computer connected to the relevant database may help in defining the decision made at this stage. Once again the nurse must make the decision based on the written policies. The decision should be guided by the written policies at this facility.

Transferring the patient to the relevant authority
If the issue can be addressed immediately, the nurse in charge will hand over the patient to the relevant authority as per the policies of the hospital. Telephones may be needed at this stage. To execute this process, the nurse must be sure that he or she has the right information about the patients complaint, and that the person he or she is transferred to has the capacity to address the problem.

Determining if the issue can be addressed by the facility
If the issue cannot be addressed immediately, the nurse should determine if the facility has the capacity to address it later. Going through the the personal computers may be of great help at this stage.

Informing the patient about the soonest time the issue can be addressed
The nurse will need to inform the patient about the soonest time the problem can be addressed. A messaging system or a phone will be useful. To execute this process, the nurse will need information about the officer responsible for the process and his or her availability.