Do you chart on plain lined paper?

[Blackcat99]

My other agency is running out of nurses notes. So nurses are now doing their nursing charting on plain college-ruled paper instead of an official nurses note. I was curious if other nurses are also doing their nursing charting on plain lined paper? How often does this happen? It sure has been happening a lot lately where I am.

[systoly]

Yes caliotter3. At this agency, I think they expect the nurses to go out and pay for copies of the needed paperwork themselves. I think the nurses are sending a message to this agency by charting on plain paper. I think the nurses are afraid to complain about the lack of nursing notes. After all, this agency, doesn't want to hear any kind of complaints. The nurses who complain about anything are punished with a reduction in their work hours.

Who pays for the plain paper? Granted I have paid to make copies, but everytime I visit the office I ask for "treasures" and walk out with ink pens and notepads.

I wouldn't drive to make copies let alone pay for them if it was a one sided deal. I will say that I have been aware at times of frivolous use of nurse notes for personal (to do/shopping) lists as well as charting 3 pages for a 4 hour shift.

That's on the supervisor 'though. If they're ok with someone charting how many wipes for a brief change than so be it.

[tothepointeLVN, LVN]

Toothepointe - I worked weekends so I could gaurd the supply :) -- it got to the point with a couple of people doing that we instituted a "count" that worked (sort of) for a while. People began to hoard their notes. It was all so silly, really. Our "communication notebook" began to look like the Jerry Springer Show notebook. It got much better when one nurse left who was bad news in a lot of ways. She just didn't care.

The laptop idea is a good one. In the area I work(ed) in, though I'm afraid the client's family members or their "friends" would do like they do on "America's Dumbest Criminals" shows where they do stuff like try to pull an entire ATM out of a wall with a pickup truck attached to a chain and drive away with it. In other words - sadly they would try to steal it.

What a great agency you have, ventmommy. At two larger agencies I never saw the DONs for at least 6 months. The smaller agencies seem to offer the best potential for being decent if you're lucky enough to find one. Where I live they are constantly buying, selling, merging and renaming the small agencies.

Yeah and sometimes your lucky if the patients family pays the electric bill anyways (not kidding)

At my first agency for the first 6 months I wasn't even aware that I HAD a supervisor. Never received a visit. If it wasn't for the fact that I got a check I would think they didn't know I existed.

It was funny that as soon as they sent a memo out saying that they were no longer mailing out notes to the patients home and we had to pick up the folder with 3 months supply in it was empty.