Re: Surveyors are here

[Holly Sox, RN, RAC-C]

In my experience, the surlier ones are often somewhat less experienced as surveyors.  I have encountered several surveyors who were new to the survey agency, and also somewhat limited in their previous work experience. I think that maybe they felt being imperious or stern equated to seeming experienced. Also, they seem to be a little intimidated by nursing home staff who know more than they do, and get an attitude about it.   I have also seen surveyors who merely reflected the attitudes of some of my coworkers.  One of the worst surveys I have ever been in seemed to snowball after one of my co-RACs got ticked about a care plan issue. The more she argued and got heated, the more the surveyor dug in. It seemed to be contagious, and the whole team just got really snotty after that. I think they left us with like 19 tags.  That same surveyor came into my current facility a couple of weeks ago, spent 2 days and left with no citations and some really encouraging comments to me.   All in all, I think surveyors are just people. They have different personalities, different quirks, just like the rest of us. The quirks just seem magnified when they are attached to people who have such power over us.   HS     Holly F. Sox, RN, RAC-C  Clinical Editor, Careplans.com www.careplans.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 10:40 PM Subject: Surveyors are here I'm in Michigan and surveyors came today.  They are about 6 weeks short of a year since the last visit.  Anyone wonder why some surveyors are so adversarial?  We have two that are very friendly and one that is a lot less than friendly.  I understand having to remain professional but why do some seem to have a chip on their shoulders the minute they walk in? Any surveyors out there that can answer that? J. Martin, RN