decreased LOC (level of confidence)

[narsmaya]

Hello to all the members. I am a relatively new nurse in a foreign country, and I only had 3 days orientation in a LTC which I am working at. I do the afternoon shifts, which I look over the other areas of the facility if they have emergencies aside from the floor which I am assigned at. I am not really familiar with what to do on residents who just had a fall, since I used to work in a hospital where there are doctors whom we can call and report to right away. Anyway, I have read a lot of threads regarding what to do if the resident had a fall and it helped me a lot, but sometimes I am still not confident in what I will do, and I can feel that other nurses where I work are not supportive and they always say I am also paid the same rate as theirs. One situation where I really felt down, was when the other area on the called me because the resident hit her head on the door frame, and I saw the morning nurse still there so I ask after I assessed the resident on what is the cognition level of the resident just to have an idea if she is confused due to the fall or not. But the nurse said she's off and its my call. Well I rang the ambulance for further assessment because that is our protocol. But I felt stupid and my confidence was knocked out, because I felt like I could have done more. I hope you can help me and share some advice, I am still adjusting to everything and everyone in my workplace. Thanks.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

Do you have a policy manual to refer to? We do neuro's on anyone who's hit their head or who had an unwitnessed fall.

The nurse is supposed to assess the resident for injuries and if there are none, we get the resident up. If we aren't sure, we call the ambulance.

I wouldn't be happy working with a nurse who wouldn't answer a question about the resident because she was 'off'. Do you use CNA care cards or another method to let everyone know the cognitive and adl status?

PM me if you want and I can send you some policies if your workplace is lacking.