'Code Blue' documentation, requesting suggestions

[nerdicus]

I'm assisting with an education fair, and we have a small display on improving the documentation involved with our 'codes' and need some short tips that other RNs have found useful - specifically in regards to documentation of the event.

For example, during a code, our night charge nurse constantly requests verbal confirmation from the documenter that they heard vitals, drug administration, rhythm changes, etc. throughout the event.

Being in a location where you can easily see a clock was my first thought, and is an obvious one.

What are your suggestions?

We would like everyone on our floor to be comfortable with each role, but specifically the documentation seems to be one that is feared by some and we'd like to change that.

[FlyingScot, RN]

Although some might disagree with me IMHO the "scribe" is a core member of the code team and should be positioned as such. I have found that a rolling cart with a flat top rolled right up to the foot of the bed and used as a desk works very, very well. Placing the scribe in a corner across the room is what necessitates the constant checking to see if everything is being written down. In the codes I have participated in and run everything is announced by the team member completing the task and then repeated back by the scribe. For example. A nurse gives 1mg of Epi. She states "Epi 1mg" and the scribe repeats "Epi 1mg" as she writes it down. Same goes for procedures. "7.5 ETT at 24 cm" "#18 IV left AC" and so on. Being part of the core allows for face to face communication and decreases the overall noise because you don't have to shout across the room.

[lpnflorida]

This past year I taught a few classes on documentation to my co-workers in regards to being the scribe during codes.

What I did was a scenario. I gave the documentation papers to each staff in attendance. I instructed them from the beginning to make sure they could see a clock whether on the wall or their own watches. I also said to have a piece of scrap paper handy. I then verbally as I watched the clock on the wall went minute by minute giving the scenario of what was occurring , At the end of the 12 minutes time everyone was allowed to discuss how it felt and compare how their sheets looked. This gave each of them the feeling of what it was like to hear what was occurring and try and document it. Many found their scrap paper to be of help as when the so called code was finished they could then fill in the blanks that were not fully completed on the code sheet.

This was the first time it had been taught in this manner. Prior we were always given a sheet of paper with the entire scenario and times and drugs named. That was always easy for people. To only hear the times, drugs used, what was happening was much more of a sense of what it can be like during a code.

Many remarked that when completed that this was helpful for them.

P.S. I was chosen to do this as I had remarked after the my first time of being the scribe that it was overwhelming and wasn't there a way to help us to be more comfortable with the process. Be careful of what you asked for. lol...... it was good for me to.