Med surg nurses!

U.S.A. California

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Hello, I am a first year student nurse in San Luis Obispo, CA and need to interview three RNs about a current nursing issue. For a topic I have chosen the concern that nurses do not have enough hours at the patient's bedside. I have a few brief questions I would like a med-surg nurse to answer to help me with my class. I appreciate it!

1. Do you feel you spend enough time at the patient's bedside?

2. A recent study showed nurses actually spend between 30-40% of their shift with patients. Do you feel this is accurate for you?

3. How do you spend most of your shift (i.e. documentation, care coordination, med administration, searching for supplies, tracking down the Dr., etc)?

4. What would you change to increase your time with patients?

5. How do you feel about bedside monitors allowing you to directly enter info into patient's electronic records? If your hospital is not already using these do you feel it would increase your time with patients or not make a difference?

6. Kaiser in certain locations is having nurses wear yellow sashes while administering meds as an off limits sign that they are not to be bothered so they can deliver meds more efficiently. How do you feel about this idea? Do you think it would increase your time with patients?

Thank you for your assistance.:nuke:

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1. No I don't think we spend enough time at the pts bedside.

2. Yes, i can believe we spend 30% of our shift bedside.

3. I would estimate my day to be split up as:

documenting (30%),

bedside care (30%),

meds prep and delivery (20%)

solving problems (10%), e.g. a med missing call pharmacy, pts condition changes need to reassess and closely monitor

answering irrelevant issues (10%), e.g. how do we hook up the TV? where can we get a spoon, getting water for pts etc.

4. Documentation needs to be reduced, by potentially having checklists (I do write the same thing numerous times!) and computer documentation at the bedside would also increase accuracy and potentially reduce interruptions because I find the moment I sit down to begin my massive amts of charting..families and staff think your not busy and consistently bug you with the above mentioned silly questions!

5. Bedside monitors sound great..this is one of the luxuries the ICU nurses love. I spend on average at least 20-25mins of my shift sometimes just searching for a vitals machine!

6. I love the idea of the yellow sash indicating we're not to be interrupted but I am anxious to know how effective it is. Sometimes it doesn't matter what your doing people feel comfy interupting. I once was in the midst of a sterile coccyx dressing change and the door was closed..but that didn't stop a family member from entering (without knocking) and saying oh I saw you come in here a while ago and you haven't come by to see my mom..just wondering when you'll be by..she wants to go for a walk! (something obviously NOT urgent!..and I always give my pts a plan that we work out, so we had a plan to go for her walk in 20mins..after I completed the dressing change!)

Just to let you know I work in Toronto, Ontario CANADA, on a cardiovascular surgery unit, very busy with coronary bypass pts, heart valve sx, and congenital surgeries. We only treat adults 16+yrs of age.

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Thank you, Newby, for your response. It is interesting to know that the issue is not just relevant in California! For my paper, however, I do need a response from a California licensed RN. So if there are any out there that are not so overwhelmed that they do not have time to respond, I would appreciate your input as well. I will make a note in my paper about how Canadian nurses feel the same way!!!

Side note - I have spent quite a bit of time hunting for a vital signs machine as well! I think the CNAs hide them :nuke:

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1. Rarely do I spend what I feel is ENOUGH time at the bedside.

2. On average I spend 25-30 %of my shift actually with the patients. That incledes assessment, meds, drsgs and other little things like asst to bathroom, starting IVs etc.

3.Majority of time is spent on documentation. The amt of paperwork we are required to do has become overwhelming in the last 2-3 yrs.

4.Streamlining the documentation would help immensely. Some of the things we need to document literally need documented in 4-5 different areas of the chart in various formats.

5. I WISH WE HAD BEDSIDE MONITORS! That is a fantasy of mine. I'd settle for a couple more vital sign machines for our unit. I spend a lot of time searching for one of the 2 machines on our floor or begging other units to borrow one of their machines if we ever have more than 2 patients at a time that need frequent vitals.

6.Havent tried the yellow sashes, but it doesnt sound like a feasible idea where I work. I also dont see how it would increase time spent with the patients.

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