STAT services..what do they mean for your facility

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

So, we all get the orders or ask for them or need them...but what does stat mean for your facility? Do you even have them?

Labs...only during the week do we get stat services on the weekends and some holidays stat services are available (sometimes) if you call before 12 noon for them. Sometimes if we can get the blood or urine ourselves, they can send a courrier Sometimes not. We have a lab a few miles up the road and sometimes if we can get someone to drop the specimin off we can get it run. Oh..when we do get someome on the phone to talk to it normally is a few hrs at least until they can come.

Xray, dopper, ekg....all depends. Might be a few hours. They are good about letting us know how long and then calling us asap with the results.

Pharmacy...MUST call and speak with the Pharmacist directly when requesting a STAT. 3 hrs or so for a stat. Some days it might be quicker if one of our nurses call her friend who is a driver and asks about it. (Nice to have an inside)

IV..really no stat service for this..The IV nurses have a huge territory to cover and its impossible to get a stat service on this. We start a peripheral if we can and wait for the IV team to come for the midlines etc or arrange to send out for a PICC

The lack of STAT service when we are getting really, really acute/ younger residents often drive the need to send out for ER services. That and the fact that people are so used to NOW and wanting to get things when they ask for it. This was never a problem with our traditional non acute LTC residents.

Just wondering how your facility is handling them.

[mazy]

Where I work we have a five hour-turnaround on our STAT labs as well as x-rays; although things like dopplers, EKGs, and the like cannot be ordered STAT, they have to be scheduled for the next day. If we need them STAT, unfortunately we have to send the patient out.

We can't do STAT PICC/midline placements, so have to start a peripheral while waiting for nurse to come.

Fortunately, my facility has an in-house pharmacy so no problems there. Although it's closed on Sunday so if we need a med that we don't have in the e-kit we have a courier service agreement with Walgreen's.

In other facilities I worked at, there was a five-hour turnaround on STAT med deliveries.

I can't see anyone where I work running out to deliver lab draws or pick up meds.

[pomegranate]

Our lab is pretty good about stats, usually will come within an hour or two, and we get the results very quickly after that; x-rays / dopplers /ekg take a bit longer, but within a few hours. Our pharmacy is not good with stats. Stats can take 6+ hours to come sometimes. It doesn't help that our pharmacy is located 2 hours away anyway....