Has anyone ever heard of an ICU nurse being alone in the unit?
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This is a discussion on Has anyone ever heard of an ICU nurse being alone in the unit? in Wyoming Nursing, part of United States Nursing ... I'm in a small 25 bed critical access facility. I work all by myself (no aid, no clerk, no nothing)...
by kvarkony May 6, '10I'm in a small 25 bed critical access facility. I work all by myself (no aid, no clerk, no nothing) with 2 and sometimes even 3 critical care pts. Granted we only have an occassional vent or gtt but still we're all by ourselves! This was unheard of before I moved here. Anyone know the laws?
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May 6, '10 by elkparkCritical access hospitals are an entirely different kettle of fish. I'm somewhat familiar with the CAH rules (I worked as a surveyor for my state and CMS for several years, and we had a few CAHs that we surveyed), and I know that CAHs aren't even required to have an RN in the house 24 hours/day -- just one shift, and they can just have an RN on call the rest of the time. So I wouldn't look for much help from "the rules." (On the other hand, I've never heard of a CAH having an ICU -- maybe that's part of the problem.) The whole point of CAHs is that they're held to a lower standard than other hospitals because they wouldn't be able to meet the "regular" rules/regs/standards and it would be a real hardship for the community (because of the distance to the next hospital) if they had to close. -
