Quality clinical work and quality customer service go hand in hand but are certainly not one in the same. We assume that the quality controls put in place by the professional organizations and academic programs will assure that we are hiring competent clinicians that can provide "quality" care. If they are not at a basic level of competency coming out of school, we will quickly discover that during their orientation and clinical competency checkoffs. We aim to assure that clinical skills grow with experience and provide internal and external opportunities for clinical growth with various forms of continuing education. We take the customer service side into our own hands as we consider that to be equally important as hiring and retaining clinically competent clinicians. Thus, our hospital does invest in programs focusing on customer service and performance improvement via Thomson Reuters and Press Ganey.

Good comments. It is true that there is currently a challenge finding experienced nurses to staff specialty areas like ICU and the OR. We are working with nursing schools to bring in talent and develop their skills. We find that behavioral interviewing is a valuable tool to define the individual's response to emergency situations and teamwork issues. We model and mentor desired behaviors with patients, families, and other disciplines, coaching where necessary, and ensure the new staff member is aware of expectations for customer service. Having said that, we are very clear as to who our customers are: everyone we deal with from Housekeeping to the Board of Directors. We are investing in the next generation of nurses.

My philosophy has always been, with regard to technical skills, you have them or you do not. While personality/customer service skills are not so easily changed. From experience, I know you will be much more successful at assisting people with their technical skills but personality traits are very difficult to change and most times impossible to change.
If you decide during the interview process this individual does not meet your customer skill standards, let them go, because you will not be able to change them. It will save you many headaches.

Agreed, either they've got "talent" with regards to interpersonal / customer service skills or they don't. Only hire "talent"... I've been burnt before by hiring a "body" that had the right clinical license but zero interpersonal skills, it came back to bite me in the end. Lesson learned!

As far as investing in employee development and training, we have a 4 month residency program for new nurses to help them acclimate to the hospital health care environment. It is essential for us since we are a pedicatric facilityand the new nurses do not get much pediatric training in school. This extended time frame allows the new graduate to have a solid foundation on not only nursing practice but expectations of the role in relation to the hospital values and behaviors.