Assisted Living Nurses

You would not believe the excuses I've heard from administrators when trying to get the various ALFs I've worked in to buy a defibrillator.

"Oh, there's too much liability---what if a caregiver makes a mistake?" (Like the machine will even operate when there's no shockable rhythm.)

"They're too expensive." (Ask for donations--that's what you've got all those business connections for!)

"You're the only one who could use it---what good is it when you're not here?" (Totally untrue: the staff who know CPR also have been trained on AEDs and probably know how to use one better than I do.)

"If we used it on a visitor, we could be sued." (Ever hear of the Good Samaritan rules? Now how about lawsuits for 'failure to rescue"?)

For some reason, the corporations that own and/or manage ALFs are scared spitless of having AEDs in their buildings. Frankly, I'm more scared of being sued for NOT having one with so many residents on full-code status..........but that's just me. Good luck to you, maybe you'll succeed where I've failed.

Yeah.......we don't even have a crash cart of any kind. Twenty-two of our seventy residents are full codes, and the only equipment we have are CPR masks. And they wonder why I don't wanna do ALF nursing anymore........