PSN Crazy

[bebbercorn]

Question for the more senior ER nurses...

Is it Emergency Rooms nationwide where we get PSN'd for everything? I'm new to ER, and already have seen them thrown around for the most ridiculous of reasons. The unit I came from was a smaller hospital and PSNs were rarely used, only for med errors, pt falls and the like. I'm wondering if I didn't see them because I came from a smaller hospital or because I wasn't in ER.

I agree with having an anonymous system to report conditions/processes that need to be improved, but most of the time I see them used for more vindictive reasons, and more for inconveniences e.g. pt arrived 1 minute after 7, nurses claiming they weren't given info in report, etc. I posed this question to some of the more senior nurses who kind of laughed and said "welcome to ER."

Thoughts?

**If you don't know, PSN is "Patient Safety Network," an anonymous computerized system meant to provide an anonymous outlet for reporting unsafe conditions. I've worked in hospitals that use it in a few states.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

I have not experienced this in any of the ERs where I have worked.

[Ikikaeru]

No system like that where I work but I work in a small rural hospital. Im just happy when I have help in the ER and that everything is plugged in so my computer isnt dying (we used portable carts with battery power).

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I have never seen this.....most places use an occurrence system to report things that may be out of the normal....or use the corporate compliance/risk management people.

I Googled it.....interesting....but I have never seen one.....

Patient Safety Net (PSN) - Hcgh.net

[Altra, BSN, RN]

I read the info Esme12 googled, and the verbage is very similar to the occurrence report system in place in different hospitals where I've worked.

What I have not encountered, is the petty use of a system designed to capture threats to facility, staff or patient safety ... to tattle that Nurse X didn't tell you Factoid 1 about Patient A in report. I find that especially galling in an ER environment, where an ability to roll with the punches and put the pieces together without being spoon fed is absolutely necessary for effective patient care, team work, and in order to keep yourself sane.

Can you bring this up casually in conversation with your coworkers? Is there an unspoken agenda at work here -- a response to some incident that occurred in the past? Or are they attempting to force some change in staffing or ratios?

[bebbercorn]

I kind of get the feeling it's the culture of the place. I do get more interdepartmental griping here than other places I have worked. I'm going to dig a little.