So I've noticed an interesting phenomenon lately. Our unit regularly gets students of various kinds - nursing, EMT, APN, etc. The nursing and EMT students sit in on report. Because they come to the unit often looking lost and uncomfortable and out of place, I try to do my best to get them oriented and comfortable. Explain the report, give them a report sheet and a clipboard and a place to sit.
But one thing I've noticed is that almost always, they don't have a freaking PEN!! I've snapped at a few of them, "Rule number one...ALWAYS have a pen on you!"
Yesterday my charge nurse pointed out that since everything is on the computer, they probably rarely need/use pens. I kind of had an "Oh ****!" moment. Is she right?? Is it actually possible to get through your day as a nurse without needing to carry a pen (or 2 or 4) in your pocket nowadays?
I don't see myself giving up pens anytime soon....and I even print out the generated report sheet from our computer charting system instead of a paper brain sheet! However, with that being said, here are the things I still use pens for.
~~signing the hang tag for blood products
~~signing, dating, and timing type and cross stickers/forms
~~signing the "received" sheet from pharmacy for high price tag medications and narcotics
~~signing the ticket to ride stating that my patient is ready to leave the floor for a procedure or test
~~updating my printed "brain sheets" numerous times during the day on new orders, vital signs, I/O, labs that need sent and their results, new assessment findings, etc. etc. etc.
~~writing my interpretation on printed telemetry strips
~~writing my name on my coffee cup so I don't drink someone else's
~~putting a date on my food in the fridge so it doesn't get thrown the heck away!
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Unless you have a photographapic memory - why would anyone, much less a student, a guest on a unit, show up without a pen or writing instrument?
Notepad on phone or an an app DOES NOT COUNT. Geez.
Send these unprepared students home. They will remember their PENS next time.
:angel:
Last year two students walked in (loudly) on group report at 0705. We start PROMPTLY at 0700. The day shift charge nurse kicked them out of the room. That's when I fell in love with her a little bit.
This crusty ole bat, so known to have a fountain pen or two on her.....water proof ink of course
Fountain pens are so elegant! It is how we learned cursive back in the Dark Ages. Except I'm a lefty, and it ended up a smeared mess every single time. Which is also why I do not EVER use a pencil.
We actually had a penmanship teacher in grade school, Mrs. Forrestal. She tried to make me right-handed multiple times. She had been my Dad's penmanship teacher too. And when she found out I was 'Sonny's' daughter, she ceased her efforts, claiming he was the worst student she ever had and I was doomed. Pizzed me off something ferocious for a first-grader. So I developed the prettiest, most legible handwriting EVER.
I come in with as many as I can round up from my car (over 5 usually)...then leave with only one that I had to beg for after misplacing the ones I brought with me. Maybe if I bought scrubs that actually fit they'd stop falling out of my pockets each time I bend over.
Speaking of pens and scrubs, am I the only one who has absolutely ruined some due to leaky black ink pens?
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Some years ago, after the civil side of Anomaly State Hospital closed down the state reimbursed the community hospitals for taking in psychiatric patients without benefits. Wrongway Regional Medical Center admitted out the ying-yang and would overflow adult patients to the OAU (Older Adult Unit). I made comment that the OAU stood for "Overflow Anybody Unit".
Anyway, this was in the days of paper charting.
Everything is on computer nowadays, and yet I still burn through a pen every 1-2 weeks.
One time, I used all the the ink in one of my Pilot G2 #7 pens doing admissions and charting.
No kidding- I keep track of these things.
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My favorite Art Pen is the British Rotring Lettering B. I have sat in my art room, and in a 12 hour period, have gone through two ink cartridges drawing so much.
Some years ago, after the civil side of Anomaly State Hospital closed down the state reimbursed the community hospitals for taking in psychiatric patients without benefits. Wrongway Regional Medical Center admitted out the ying-yang and would overflow adult patients to the OAU (Older Adult Unit). I made comment that the OAU stood for "Overflow Anybody Unit".
Anyway, this was in the days of paper charting.
One time, I used all the the ink in one of my Pilot G2 #7 pens doing admissions and charting.
No kidding- I keep track of these things.
My hospital had one of those wings....still has the sign and everything. Let me tell you, any patient/family member that wants to be a pain in the rear points out the sign and demands a bed reassignment-but of course we are full, that's why they're there. Happened quite a few times. I think it's time to remove the sign. It would save a lot of time and aggravation.
I will say that the one thing I really do NOT miss about paper charts is the med sheet writing for new admits with polypharmacy. Those would be several pages long, only to have the next doc come and change everything and we would have to change the darn thing again. It was, however, a heck of a lot easier to write the orders. The computer system I'm used to is a bear to work with.
Oh, and I'll never forget when going to grab a chart that someone did close the prongs to....fun putting it back together again when the patient had been there for 2 months and no one thinned the darn thing.
I used to keep my pen behind my ear so nobody would ever dream of assaulting me for my pen. Once I dropped my pen and it promptly got run over by a chair. I just picked it up and stuck it back behind my ear. About two hours later somebody said, "Seven, you have ink in your hair and down the side of your neck!"
Um... No. You need a pen. I remember getting yelled at by a clinical instructor about not having a watch. Haha! Now days, I ALWAYS wear a watch/fitbit. I feel naked without it. I wear a carabiner on my pants that has badge reels with scissors, a pen, tape, tubing caps, and a flashlight. There is always IV tubing that needs to be labeled. My pen comes in handy!
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JadedCPN, BSN, RN
1,476 Posts
I couldn't survive my shift without a pen or five. And do not let me lose my favorite pen!