How long is too long before you see your new pt?

[shannonFNP, BSN, MSN, RN]

I know this is a random question! I work in minor emergency care at a local hospital right now as an LVN. It is like an extremely fast paced doctor's office. Sometimes you're so busy doing everything that by the time you get to a patient's room, they've already got discharge papers on their chart. Sometimes on the days where I'm having to hold down pedi's for stitches, give lots of meds, crutch training, charting... I just don't get into a patients room for 30 minutes or more. I was wondering, what is your personal limit for a patient waiting in their room? This is for major emergency or minor care. Thanks everyone =)

[Larry77, RN]

In minor emergency I personally would not worry about "time" but more "intervention", if there was something I could do to get the patient ready for d/c I would (Td, xray orders, apap for fevers etc). I would not try and set a time frame for assessment...they have been assessed by a triage nurse and yes now I'm responsible but in a minor emergency setting they probably will not code while they wait for the provider.

In a my main department I do try to assess or at least meet my patients as soon as possible and actual prefer to bring them back myself or check them in from EMS myself just so I have a baseline of how they look.

[kmoonshine, RN]

If its a minor ED area, then they can wait. If there's d/c papers, then they've already been seen by someone, right? As long as the pt has a call light handy, then they're fine to wait. Simple lac's, minor colds, and strep throat pts can chill for a bit and don't necessarily need to be seen by the nurse right away.

Major areas: I try to see my pts ASAP, or at least delegate some things right away (such as IV, UA). If I can't do a full assessment right away, I try to eyeball the pt and make sure they have the call light should they need something. Most of the time I can get in to see the pt within 10 minutes or less, depending on their chief complaint.