Would you ever ask another nurse to give your pt a suppository?

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  1. Would you ever ask another nurse to insert a suppository into your pt?

    • 51
      No. I would feel guilty and would delegate another nursing responsibility to them instead.
    • 7
      Yes, I dont want to do it either!
    • 4
      Yes, but I would feel guilty/bad about it.
    • 112
      Yes, to help teammate since turning patient on side for skin assessment.

174 members have participated

I am a skin and wound resource nurse for my unit and I have to do PU prevalence for my unit every wednesday. I have to turn 30 pts and assess their skin for PUs and clean BMs with the nurse if we find them, I even change dsgs for them of it is a PU underneath. I was taken aback when I was asked by 2 nurses yesterday "while im on that side can you place this suppository?" These are the only 2 favors I was asked to do all day also. I felt put on the spot and taken advanage of - I have never thought of asking another nurse to do this for me, I tend to think that people would prefer to do this as minimally as possible and you are expected to do the dirty work for you own pts. What do you think? Was I being a poor sport about it or were they taking advantage of me?

...Would you ask another nurse to administer a med you drew up in a syringe? I would object on these grounds...

I will ask you the same question that I asked binary in post 55. Are you saying that you have never given, nor will ever give a medication that someone else has prepared?

What if the medication were properly labeled when prepared? Would you administer it then? What about medications prepared by the pharmacy?

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If it was simply the matter of the convenience of the patient so as not to cause more discomfort then perhaps the patient's nurse should have been the one on the "backside" of things. Not to mention if it's a skin assessment in addition to giving the suppository, who is documenting that? I wouldn't want anyone documenting on my patient other than me. my name, my liability if anything goes wrong. You don't put your license at risk to give a medication that you yourself have not drawn up or it comes from pharmacy directly.

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The only meds I would give if prepped by someone else is pharmacy. I'm a Canadian nurse so maybe the rules are different here but I highly doubt it.

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Another exception to the rule may be the prepping of vaccines for mass immunization campaigns. Otherwise, a vehement NO.

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Specializes in Infection Control, Med/Surg, LTC.

Why possibly cause discomfort to the patient by turning him twice? I would have no problem at all giving the suppositories and would also ask if she has others that I could do that may be on my list to see. I've always tried to be the team player the patients need us to be. There is not my patient, your patient, but OUR patient.

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Because OP if you are on the side to assess what you need to, clean the patient, intervene if PU care is needed, then YES, if the patient needs a suppository, you are in the correct position to give it.

I am not sure I would say I were being "put upon" as at least you do not have to attempt to turn and assess the patients by yourself, and fellow nurse doesn't claim "oh, BTW, when you go into room 678 bring a suppository, they will need it!!" Or even "while you are there, could you just do a bed bath? The patient needs one, and since you are assessing the skin anyways...."

I get it, your job is such that you assess skin for PU. But in the course of that duty, you are bound to get involved in other parts of nursing care. Much like you do not say "RN, you need to clean this patient up before I can assess the skin, so let me know when the patient is clean".

Teamwork. No "I" in it.

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Specializes in Infection Control, Med/Surg, LTC.

As far as giving a med another has poured: it's a suppository, most likely Dulcolax, the foil/plastic wrap usually is labeled, if not, take the whole box and your lube and stick them in your pocket and you're ready to rock.

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They were taking advantage of you. She is there to assess the SKIN, not give meds. I would have asked the skin care nurse to hold onto the patient and I would give it myself. Just like when I ask someone to help me clean up a patient I will do the cleaning and let them do the holding if that is what they prefer.

The primary nurse should be giving the suppository. The skin care RN is not there to give your meds! Sorry!

Yes Flexiseal! thank you. Whenever there is a BM to clean, I thought it was just "nurse etiquette" to be the one doing the cleaning while your helpers hold and roll your pt. And I like your screen name too. I personally do not like sticking my finger up people's butts, and I will not apologize for feeling that way, but I will do what is best for the pt.

I love when the night shift nurse administers a laxative suppository 10 minutes before change of shift... just in time for me to deal with the aftermath!

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I did feel put on the spot because these nurses are turning these pts every 2 hours whether I am there or not... so when they know I am coming around are they waiting for me to do the honors? I don't know. That's how I felt because they have had opportunities to do it before and after my helping them to turn their pt.

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There is some great discussion here. Our college here in Ontario, Canada just updated our Medication standard and I would like to quote it here:

"The College advocates for the same nurse performing all administration steps to minimize the chance of error and clarify individual accountability. This document applies to prescription drugs as well as other substances, including over-the-counter medications and herbal preparations."

As you can see, this applies not only to prescribed medications, but also to over-the-counter medications which a suppository would fall under this if it is a laxative.

I would also like to point out that being "pass the buck" does not allow you to do the following in OP situation:

Verifying:

- the right patient

- the right medication

- the right reason

- the right dose

- the right frequency

- the right route

- the right site, and

- the right time

If you would like to check out our medication standards here in Canada, you can read it here:

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cno.org%2FGlobal%2Fdocs%2Fprac%2F41007_Medication.pdf&ei=khKzVLPQLI6XyATluIDACQ&usg=AFQjCNHFYRDmGSqA2sQvnq2s8H24HMPL3g&sig2=T_EyWmq2mpCEpWCu7KwB1w&bvm=bv.83339334,d.aWw

I know that nursing isn't a black and white profession, but in my opinion, some things need to be treated this way such as medication administration. Ultimately, we are protecting the patient's safety and our own licenses and we can never be too careful in that regard. I do, however, humbly respect everyone's opinion.

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Specializes in Gerontology RN-BC and FNP MSN student.

Another angle-the nurse administering it would want to be the one following up. So yea, it would be best to give your own meds on your patient. :yes:

Sent from my iPhone 6 plus using allnurses

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