Admits after 6:00 pm? Does your hospital do this?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in med surg, tele, ortho, preop, recovery.

I'm a new grad and I've been working where I am for almost a year. I work 7-7 days. One of my main reasons I'm throwing in the towel on this job is be because of the 6:00 admits, ER, or some other department wanting to call report and transfer patients in the same hour that we have to give report to the night nurse. The floor I work on is already a zoo, and by the end of the day I AM DOG TIRED AND READY TO GO HOME. I get sooo pissed off, this is driving me insane. Im spending my days off looking for another job. Many a nights I don't get home till 9 pm because of this crap.

I can't understand why they wait till after 6:00 pm. Am I missing something here?

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Nursing is a twenty four hour job. Things dont flow according to the rhythms of the unit.

No one is plotting to find the most inconvenient time to send a pt to the floor for an admit. The nurse needs to anticipate this WILL happen. It isnt going to change.

Welcome to Nursing.

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Specializes in Trauma ICU.

When working on a med surg floor, every patient we had admitted from ER came right before shift change.

I don't know how true it is, but I was told it was because if the ER nurse sent the pt up before shift change, then he/she would get another pt.

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sometimes there is a holdup d/t late leaving discharges leaving a oncoming housekkeeping to get room ready

i know mds who tell patients coming in for surgery/tests the next day to eat supper before they come in because the hospital has an early evening meal and they won't get anything at their regular meal time

sometimes patients in er do not have a decision to admit until they have been there for awhile

i know that this isn't much help, and when i have put in my hours i am more than ready to go home..when you are looking for a job talk to the floor nurses not just the floor manager and find out the nitty-gritty on the new place

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Specializes in med surg, tele, ortho, preop, recovery.
Nursing is a twenty four hour job. Things dont flow according to the rhythms of the unit.

No one is plotting to find the most inconvenient time to send a pt to the floor for an admit. The nurse needs to anticipate this WILL happen. It isnt going to change.

Welcome to Nursing.

I'm well aware its a 24 hour job but I'm not a freaking robot, either. Nurses need to eat sleep and rest just like everybody else. I can't be allowed this then I need to move on, which is what I intend to do.

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You always get 1800 and 0600 admissions in nursing. Getting admissions is part of it. Afraid to say, but the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

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Well, from an ER point of view, we often have admitting docs telling us to hold the pt in ER until they come in to write orders, and they don't show up until after office hours. We are not doing this on purpose, we want the pt out of the ER as soon as possible but it's not always possible.

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Specializes in TELEMETRY-MED/SURG-PULMONARY-STEP/DOWN.

Well

on my unit if we receive a patient after 6pm, the next shift must admit them. I think that it is the reasonable thing to do. Some units are crazy...trust me you need to find a unit that truly suits you...DO NOT SETTLE!:nono: :nono: :nono:

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Specializes in med surg, tele, ortho, preop, recovery.
You always get 1800 and 0600 admissions in nursing. Getting admissions is part of it. Afraid to say, but the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

I sure its not always greener, but you wont know for sure unless you step over to see if it is in fact greener.

Im a single parent whose child is also suffering because I can't get home at a decent hour to help him with homework and spend time with him. Im willing to make that step for him.

Thanks for the insight.

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Specializes in cardiac/critical care/ informatics.

we get admits at 7p i look at like this there is another shift. i would do what you can and leave the rest for the next shift. i am sure your unit doesn't want to pay you for staying over either.

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The most frequent time my unit receives admissions and transfers: SHIFT CHANGE. OH and Admitting assign beds just before shift change (that way Staffing can understaff the unit). We're lucky if we even receive report on patients from RR or ER.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, MS, ICU.

I think this happens everywhere. Some places may be worse than others. I know that if we get an admission when it is close to Change of Shift we settle the patient and the next nurse coming on does the assessment and admission. Usually the reason for this admission being so late is due to the Doctor not showing up in the ER until after his/her office hours. That is usually around 1800 unfortunately. I don't think that it is fair to blame or be angry with the ER nurses. They are only doing their jobs, and they may be swamped in the ER also.

Another thing to consider is to document as much as you can while you are assessing a patient. We have computer charting where I work so I log on in the room and chart everything I can right as I assess the patient. It does not take more then a few minutes, and it saves a ton of time later on in the shift.

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