Re: I feel so stupid. What should I have done?
You actually did the patient a favor by sending her to ER. First of all, if you had suspected a UTI, you'd be on the phone trying to get a hold of the doctor for an order to do U/A with C/S. Then you'd send it to the lab and probably get it back the next day. If her UTI was severe, another day could had led it to Urosepsis, you never know especially at that age.
Sometimes the Doc will see the UA results and choose to wait for the pending C/S results, further delaying treatment.
Another thing, it was a change in condition. Severe pain should be enough to send a patient to the ER for evaluation.
Great job on getting her on ABX sooner.
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