Any ER nurses do MINI reg. in triage ?

[time4meRN]

ohhhh, my gosh........ we just started mini registration in our er. on average we have about 32 pt's waiting at any given time. we have 3 nurses in triage, 2 to triage, one to sit at the entrance desk. now the rn at the entrance desk has to type in the pt's info, ss #, look up name info or start a new chart if the pt hasn't been seen before. when we type in this info, we get a face sheet for orders and stickers with pt id # on it. the system ( i don't mind saying is mckessen) it is so user unfreindly ! the problem is , we control 2 different doors, the constant flow of pt's aking "how much longer, why did those people go back before me" etc... etc... you know how it goes. we also have to keep track of who is going back when and to where, answer the phone.the list of what we do is never ending. i guess i wounder what other nurses thoughts are on , nurses taking over so many other areas jobs that ours is becoming rediculously busy. over the past few months, we go out get our own pt's , make beds, clean rooms, transport pt's to x-ray, admission room etc... we do our own ekg's , lab work and the usual flow of med orders etc. shouldn't we have house keeping clean the room, ( i don't mind cleaning my mess, removing linen) but mopping ? nurse techs to go out to bring pt's back, lab to draw blood do ekg's and registration to do mini reg so that we don't miss a pt coming in clutching their chest while we're using a rediculously user unfreindly mckessen system. i can see somthing really big being missed because we are so occupied doing other things besides, good critical thinking. (oh don't forget pres ganey. how silly of me not to think about comfort care cart and keep the movies running so pt's don't get frustrated). thanks for listening.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

I sympathize ... we do this too. We use a McKesson product, but it's actually not too cumbersome. We either scan their card issued by the hospital system or search by name ... if they're not in the system you just have to type name, DOB and sex for the quick reg. Registration staff will take care of the rest later. Honestly, in our setting it only takes about 30 seconds max.

However ... you MOP FLOORS??? I would be vocal about being one very expensive housekeeper and asking for extra scrubs to change into to care for my patients after mopping the floor. Someone has their head up their butt if they think that's efficient.

[kyboyrn]

I guess I'm blessed where I work. I work in an emergency room as well. We aren't as busy as your er it doesn't sound like, but we stay pretty busy most of the time. Techs draw our blood, we have transporters to take patients to x-ray, or x-ray comes and gets them, we have housekeeping to clean rooms, or the techs do it, and respiratory does our EKGs. I would not, and I repeat, would not be responsible for mopping floors. There are better jobs out there than that. I am not better than anyone, and I do not want to sound condescending, but you didn't go through nursing school to mop floors! And how can you provide for the patients like you should being that busy and having that much responsibility. Registration clerks register the patients where I work, and our unit secretary puts in orders and makes all the charts (h&p, order sheets, etc). Still, with all this help, we are still often overwhelmed. I would definitely look for employment elsewhere if i was you, unless administration wants to make some changes.