Does anyone have Admission Nurses?

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Dec 3, 2003

I wish we had one all the time. On some shifts, there is a PRN nurse who helps out anywhere needed, and this includes admissions; needless to say, this nurse can be a godsend when things are hectic! I often serve in this capacity myself, especially from 7-11P when the 12-hour night shifters come on. It's a fun role for me, as I love doing lots of different things and "putting out fires", so to speak, instead of always being on a team and having the same patients for three days.

Unfortunately, the times when we DON'T have a PRN person are always the times when we get slammed........which is why I wish we had one on all shifts! One person can't do ALL the admits, of course, but even if all they do is the initial assessment, it's a huge help.

purplemania, BSN, RN · Dec 3, 2003

What are your responsibilites? Do you do the initial assessment?

SmilingBluEyes · Dec 3, 2003

ha! I WISH! no its just part of the many things floor nurses do where we work!

OriginalWmn · Dec 3, 2003

When I worked at Denver Children's there was an admit nurse from 7a-10p. Very nice for those change of shift admits.

KaroSnowQueen, RN · Dec 3, 2003

We do. Only one, usually only on Mon thru Fri altho sometimes she is there on Sat too.

She does the initial assessment and history and arrival info, starts the IV and draws blood if the pt is a direct admit and not an ER pt. She then puts all info into computer and gives report to the nurse who will be caring for the pt. She also prints out a first Kardex to give to the nurse, and prints the admission info out and places in the chart. Also calls attending doc for admitting orders if none accompanied pt from md office or if ER didn't get them.

We LOVE our admission nurse! If we are a full house and the docs go on a discharging run, she comes and does all the d/c instructions too.

Chaya, ASN, RN · Dec 11, 2003

We usually have an admission nurse afternoon thru mid- evevning when admissions are heaviest. They do a really complete assessment and a lot of the paperwork (but not the med sheets- that's for the nurse assigned to the pt to do or at least check and sign if transcribed by a secretary). They give a brief direct report to whoever will be assigned the pt.. Boy, are they worth their weight in gold!

Silverdragon102, BSN · Dec 11, 2003

here in the UK we have Medical Admission Units, I used to work on one, and every medical patient needing admission to the hospital went through the MAU unless they needed ventilation straight from casualty (ER). The RN's would be responsible for full assessment, blood works etc and then once a bed was available the patient was transferred with the accepting ward only having to confirm a few details, ie NOK tel numbers. The pace was very fast and stressful, usual medical admissions would be anything from 30 admissions ++ a day and the NHS over here has a persistant bed crisis. RN's generally burnt out after 3 yrs

Anna

neneRN, BSN, RN · Dec 12, 2003

We have a ten bed admission unit- once a pt is admitted from ER or a direct admit, this is where they go. The nurses in this unit do the admission assessment, call MD for orders and hold the pt until a bed is open. This unit does not get any of the ICU, L/D, peds, or psych admits. It has helped our ED turnaround so much.

Shellsie · Dec 12, 2003

I was an admission nurse for over a year but switched because it got monotonous.

admits would get to the floor and id get there and meet and greet and assess and get history and start iv's and give stat meds (if available). it was nice because someone was there right away and if the patient was in any distress coming in as a direct admit i could get them settled.

also if things were slow upstairs i would go down to er and ask them which ones were coming up and id go ahead and start their paperwork.

i think it was a help to the staff and i could help with other things on slow admit days.

i worked monday through friday 12p-8p but i usually came in early to help on the floor.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 12, 2003

We used to. But when the nursing shortage became more acute, they needed them on the floor and did away with the postion. But it was so nice to have your data base done, IV running, patient settled into bed for you. What a ltime saver that was.