Smile to make patients feel better, Oswestry hospital nursing staff are told

The recommendation has been made as part of the quality strategy which has been drawn up at Oswestry's Orthopaedic Hospital.

Jayne Downey, director of nursing, was in charge of writing the strategy which was presented to the hospital trust board yesterday.

She said: "We want to build some things into our strategy. The main one is that we'll always introduce ourselves. There's nothing worse than not knowing who you're talking to.

"And smiles in the corridor mean a lot to patients who may be worried going into theatre."

Trust board chairman Russell Hardy said he wanted the hospital to maintain its reputation as a friendly place to be treated and said smiling at patients was important to that.

"Smiling doesn't cost anything but is disproportionately important when you're nervous," he said.

"It's the people that make the hospital friendly and that's very important. It's what makes this hospital special."

He said it was also important to include friendliness as an attribute to look for in new staff when hiring.

"As our nursing population reaches retirement age we want to recruit younger nurses who totally embody this," he said.

"It's far easier to recruit people who live and breathe those values rather than trying to change someone's mindset who doesn't."

Mrs Downey also recommended that if patients had family who wanted to help with their care they should be allowed to if possible to make treatment more comfortable for the patients.

"For example, yesterday a patient's fiancé wanted to get involved with the care, and why not?" she said.

Members of the public will be able to find out more about the hospital's quality strategy at its AGM on July 31 when the senior nurses will give a presentation.