Use of Admission Nurses

Beary-nice · Jun 14, 2006

We have two admission nurses and at least one is on every day and it helps because we have such major pt turnover. They also do our dismissals. I think it is helpful. Sorry I don't have any articles for ya...someone else might.

allele, LPN · Jun 14, 2006

We have an admission nurse department and they're a HUGE help!! I just wish they stayed later than three o'clock! They take care of pre-admissions (paperwork, labs, diagnostic tests) for elective surgical patients and they take care of the admission paperwork for anyone admitted during the day. Our admission database is a bit lengthy (as I'm sure yours is too!) so it's a big help. They also take care of any necessary referrals that are gleaned from the admission paperwork (i.e. PT/OT/ST, Social services, clergy, diabetes education, dietary, ect...). When I worked in rehab. an admission nurses would have been a Godsend as our admission paperwork also included the full head to toe baseline assessment. Good luck!! :)

lsyorke, RN · Jun 14, 2006

I float to an orthopedic/surgical floor where they have an admission nurse. It's the greatest thing going. They get back all the post ops returning to the floor, transcribe orders, assess the patient , all the admitting paperwork, and then turn the patient over to the staff nurse. HUGE help and the patients LOVE IT!!! Our's works diretly with the recovery room for scheduling the transfers so she doesn't get bombarded.

overlyrn · Jun 14, 2006

We have an admission nurse on from 10 am to 6 pm 7 days/wk, and it's great! It really frees up valuable time for the staff nurses, and I no longer dread an ER or direct admit.

mom and nurse · Jun 15, 2006

Thanks everyone for your replies. I've been doing a literature search to try to find out if patient/staff satisfaction is tied to having an admission nurse without much success. I appreciate your comments. :)

PamRNC · Jun 15, 2006

I am the admission RN for my unit. We recently decided to try something different, everybody took a turn trying out the role for a day or two, but I'm the only one who has stuck with it. (my idea-go figure:trout: ) I work 4 days 12pm - 10pm, try to get discharge paperwork and admissions done. Since we have computerized charting, when I get information about our pending admissions, I can set up the charts before they even get to the floor, and print out orders/medexes to have on hand when they arrive, order/collect any special equipment needed, etc. Our floor is a busy general surgery unit, so we get direct admits, ER admits and post-ops, as well as a few transfers from the ICUs/step-down units. One of the reasons I'm working the odd hours - we call it 'swing shift' - is so that I'll be available on the floor during change of shift report - that lovely time when the other floors feel it's safe to send a patient, or someone who wasn't having any pain when the district RN was available is suddenly in agony, now that he/she is in report. The patient's like it because for a few minutes they have my undivided attention, and the other RNs like it because I handle all the assessment and paperwork, troubleshoot any immediate problems or issues and basically when I hand over the patient to the district RN all they should need to do is say hi and here's your meds/tx/whatever.

I won't kid you - it can be a rough gig, Monday we got 12 admits that showed up almost 3-4 pts at a time, after discharging nearly as many people. I can't handle so many in a timely fashion, so the district RNs still need to assess some of their new arrivals, but not all. Even though I may not get to see all of them, I can usually set up the charts, and get the RNs the paperwork saving them a few minutes, here and there. Being a more experienced/technologically saavy RN I'm also available to help troubleshoot/problem solve and cover lunch breaks.

I'd love to hear what other places are doing and how they are using this kind of a role.

allnurses Guide · Jun 15, 2006

We don't have an admissions nurse in my hospital but it sounds like something that would really be helpful. Sounds like it would be a nice job to have as well.

Chaya, ASN, RN · Jun 15, 2006

Having worked both with and without an admissions nurse, I can't praise them enough! As noted by another poster, 2-3 admissions frequently arrive within a short time of each other, most often on the 3-11 shift when staffing is lighter, the Admission office is closed and the hospital is covered by a couple of on-call MD's. The 8 PM med pass is pretty heavy and it's really difficult to take 45"- 1 HR out of your night to do the assessment, paperwork, orders, meds with no prior notice.

princess pancake · Jul 21, 2009

I'm doing a report on the need for a nurse-led admissions clinic. Did you ever find any literature on the subject? Because i am having trouble finding this as well.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Jul 21, 2009

We had one and we loved her! Because of her, we were able to assess other patients and pass meds on time!