[inshallamiami]

Well...I recently started a new job in a very small interventional radiology department. Previously there were two agency nurses who worked there for over a year (no full time nurses.) They kept one of the nurses who has been orienting me. The problem is there is no recovery area,!

Inpatients go directly back to their floor/unit and outpatients go to outpt recovery. In theory this is ok except that after a procedure, the pressure is on to get the patient out of the room--so the next pt can be prepped. But the first patient has to be put IN THE HALL to wait for transport, with frequently no monitoring (as the portable monitor is with the other nurse getting the pt. ready in CT down the hall.) Even if we could monitor them, the nurses are busy either in the procdure room or in CT while the pt is in the hall alone with no call bell.

Yesterday I had a post sedation pt in the hall for over an hour, alone, no vitals etc, with me popping out to see them a couple of times while doing another sedation procedure in the fluoro room. The other nurse was is CT. Unfortunately my preceptor feels that this is ok, its the way it has to be done in order to accomodate the doctor and it's the way it has been done for a long while.

My only supervisor is the head of the Radiology Dept. and is an MBA. I spoke with him briefly before yesterday when I had concerns that this might happen and he said of course you should recover the patient. If I were to stay and recover the pt, lets say in the hall with a monitor, it would slow em down and i KNOW I would get flak. They want to keep this doctor happy -- he is the only IR they have and without him there is no IR dept.

Personally I feel I should do the right thing but this will antagonize everyone and I probably would lose my job. There must be a way to solve this and still be a team player!

Any help would be appreciated, sorry for the long post, Sue.

[DutchgirlRN]

Originally Posted by inshallamiami

Inpatients go directly back to their floor/unit and outpatients go to outpt recovery. In theory this is ok except that after a procedure, the pressure is on to get the patient out of the room--so the next pt can be prepped. But the first patient has to be put IN THE HALL to wait for transport, with frequently no monitoring (as the portable monitor is with the other nurse getting the pt. ready in CT down the hall.) Even if we could monitor them, the nurses are busy either in the procdure room or in CT while the pt is in the hall alone with no call bell.

Myself (Medical Imaging RN) and the CT techs are transport. Inpatients go directly back. SDC patients go directly back. Outpatients are monitored if they've been contrasted. I monitor them and cannot leave them. We cannot leave anyone in the hallway. We are constantly moving them to and fro to keep the flow going. Occasionally we have to call XR for additional transport help.

Yesterday I had a post sedation pt in the hall for over an hour, alone, no vitals etc, with me popping out to see them a couple of times while doing another sedation procedure in the fluoro room. The other nurse was is CT. Unfortunately my preceptor feels that this is ok, its the way it has to be done in order to accomodate the doctor and it's the way it has been done for a long while.

My only supervisor is the head of the Radiology Dept. and is an MBA. I spoke with him briefly before yesterday when I had concerns that this might happen and he said of course you should recover the patient. If I were to stay and recover the pt, lets say in the hall with a monitor, it would slow em down and i KNOW I would get flak. They want to keep this doctor happy -- he is the only IR they have and without him there is no IR dept.

Personally I feel I should do the right thing but this will antagonize everyone and I probably would lose my job. There must be a way to solve this and still be a team player!

Any help would be appreciated, sorry for the long post, Sue.

I would ask your supervisor how he would feel if it were his mother, father, son, daughter etc...who was left out in a hall to recover unmonitored? I think it's a dangerous practice and I would put it to him like that. Plain and simple. I wouldn't leave a post sedation patient no matter how back up they get. I'd rather secure another position than to continue the way it is currently. A patient demise may be what it takes to get their attention but I wouldn't want it on my conscious. Good Luck Hon.

[inshallamiami]

Thanks Dutchgirl, you're right.