Anyone go to hospital with patient?

middleagednurse · Jul 15, 2019

No, because Medicaid won't pay you to care for a hospitalized patient.

middleagednurse · Jul 15, 2019

To add a word.

**Elektra6, ASN, BSN, RN** · Jul 15, 2019

I thought so. My friend goes w/patient but he may be private pay.

caliotter3 · Jul 16, 2019

Agency won’t allow or pay for this because the hospital is being paid for the patient’s care. If the parent wants to pay you out of pocket, better make certain the agency does not find out.

Kitiger, RN · Jul 17, 2019

Also, the hospital might not let you do nursing care on THEIR patient. This is for liability reasons.

caliotter3 · Jul 22, 2019

One of my clients told me that over the years, she had no trouble with the hospital personnel allowing her to virtually take over her child's care. The nurses would draw up meds and bring them to the room for the mother to administer. Only the RT's would actually do their own care. Mother said that hours would go by and the nurses would not even check up. They wouldn't come near the room. This mother spoke to me about doing her child's care. She was somewhat disappointed because the hospital personnel had relinquished pretty much everything. I don't think I ever told her that I thought this was a situation of her own making. I also thought it was bad practice on the part of the hospital, but then, it occurred to me that they had devised this reaction to placate a mom who could be somewhat demanding. I don't doubt that this situation is not the norm.

**Elektra6, ASN, BSN, RN** · Jul 22, 2019

Went to visit said patient in the hospital. Mom was staying 24/7. Patient on a vent on a regular floor. How could she not stay? I stayed a few hours so she could go home and change. Felt bad for them. Nurses were doing all care except mom was suctioning as needed. RT was fine with that.

caliotter3 · Jul 22, 2019

Yes, these childrens hospital rooms had a small "loveseat" arrangement in front of the window where the mother would sleep. She would only go home to change clothes or get some food. She had me come to the hospital a couple of times so she could leave for a few hours and feel that her child was being attended to. I am sure that if she would have said something to the hospital nurses that they would not have ignored the patient during her absence, but it made her feel better to have me there.

Kitiger, RN · Jul 25, 2019

On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 5:07 PM, Elektra6 said:
Mom was staying 24/7. Patient on a vent on a regular floor. How could she not stay?

Indeed. A child on a vent on a regular floor is unsafe x 1000. This shouldn't happen, but I've heard about it happening more than once.

The parents must stay.

I work with two families that simply don't take their child to the hospital unless he needs surgery. If the doctor will work with us, if we have orders for PRN albuterol, saline, etc., and orders for the appropriate antibiotics, steroids, etc., we can do a better job at home.

I take care of vented kids with routine nebulizer treatments (Albuterol, Atrovent, Pulmozyme, HyperSal, Pulmicort, TOBI, etc.). We do vest percussion "Jigglevest", manual percussion, postural drainage, CoughAssist, O2, bagging O2 (with a BMV). We auscultate lungs and target the trouble spots, we titrate O2, we monitor with the pulse Oximeter. And on top of all that, we know the child, in a way that the hospital doctors and nurses cannot.