Difficulties in Patient Care and Identification

Nurses General Nursing

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As a nursing prospect and student, I was wondering what the common issues with identifying rooms and patients are in the workplace.

From a psychological stand point humans are innate to missing cues in high stress situations. Stress causes anxiety which can cause mistakes and confusion. To overcome these anxieties, devices like notes, or psychological reminders can be implemented. However, in a data heavy and personalized environment it is very common to miss information or misinterpret information. Especially in distinguishing a patient.

In such a high paced and dynamic environment where time and service is key, what makes it hard in identifying patient rooms? What makes it hard to distinguish the medical precautions that are to be taken when entering a patient's room? What indicators, or visual cues make it easier in distinguishing specific patient rooms?

Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
How are there 45 comments on this thread?

Because it doesn't matter how many ways you say the same thing, some people absolutely refuse to get it. This seems to be a theme lately.

SHORT STAFFING is the problem and ADEQUATE STAFFING is the only solution. So if you're management, keep thinking up stupid things to spend time and money on and keep on digging your heels in about staffing.

Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
As a nursing prospect and student, I was wondering what the common issues with identifying rooms and patients are in the workplace.

Huh?

Wait are you a nursing student who currently works somewhere in healthcare administration?

P.S. Please don't make the nurses start locking the isolation signs into the plastic windows. The key will get lost and then the replacement key will have to be locked in the Pyxis so that it doesn't get lost again, and now it takes 10 minutes to put up a sign and I have 10 minutes less time to spend with my patient. Then people will just tape the isolation sign on top of the thing anyway to save time and then housekeeping will be mad because somebody put tape on the window and you know how hard it is to get tape gunk off the glass??

I'll be honest, this sounds like a homework question.

Do your own work sweetie. If you need help, post what you have so far with sources. Make an effort.

Specializes in retired LTC.
I really couldn't understand what this thread was about until several posts in. Makes me long for the "I'm seeing a lot of tall nurses" post!

Hey chacha - the 'Tall Nurses' post is over on the blue side.

Just want to say, that in all my years of working, I was NEVER so distressed that I ever found myself sobbing in my car after work or crying to my BF that I got "lost' in a wrong pt room. Or that I had no way of figuring out what kind of precautions were needed.

Talk about some 'exercise in futility'. Kinda DOES sound like homework to me.

Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

I dunno, it sounds like how admin really goes about their decision making to me :D

I didn't read all the responses, but I felt compelled to respond. I became a nurse as a second career. Like most non-nurses, I had NO idea what nurses do until I was one (I really had no idea even in nursing school). Every week it seems, administration comes up with more stuff for nurses to do. Most of it is more charting. But, we get edicts on customer satisfaction stuff too. It's endless and nothing ever gets taken away; it's just added. At the same time, more and more stuff that could help us -- staff, supplies, resources, etc -- is taken away. It's soul crushing at times.

So, before you waste more time finding a solution to a non-problem (no, no one ever tampers with isolation signs. I'm sure it's happened once somewhere at some point, but that doesn't mean I need to chart that the correct isolation sign is on the door every shift. Just don't.). Walk in the shoes of a nurse for a week. Not once. A week. And, by the way, the problems the nurse in one unit has is not necessarily going to be the same as the nurse in a different unit. When you are shadowing, reduce that nurse's patient load so she or he can talk to you and explain what's going on in his or her head. Just tagging along isn't going to demonstrate what's going on. A nurse does not just complete tasks, although that's what it looks like to an outsider.

Nurses are tired on "solutions" to non-problems. We don't know your job so we don't know what problems you can solve. However, you don't know our jobs, so you don't know what problems exist. Please don't make us chart more for a problem that doesn't exist.

I would be so very happy for my nursing colleagues somewhere out there if this really was a student post. Alas, I fear it isn't. For those who haven't been in a situation yet to observe the practice of choosing someone such as Chris to work on nursing problems, then you need to prostrate yourself immediately and thank the universe.

My background is in management information systems and electrical engineering. I primarily work in healthcare systems engineering and process optimization. I have bachelor degrees in software, computer, and electrical engineering. With a specialization in neural networks and artificial intelligence.

I created this thread to help with a process decision at my employing institution. I'm trying to lower the stress of nurses and optimize the flow of our floor's workflow.

This is not about learning anything, and it's not about nursing either. It's about "optimizing the workflow."

If you don't know about this type of thing......universe.

Specializes in retired LTC.

JKL, you're most probably correct.

Sad commentary of the times.

JKL33, thank you for clarifying. You are right, it is feasible but it is not preferred. It has been made clear to me that my institution is not trying to employ more nurses for shifts, if possible. Thus, the reason why I've gone in search of different methods to help ease the workflow.

Chris I'm going to be nice about this, BUT I PROMISE YOU employing more nurses IS the solution to the majority of stress, distraction, error etc.

whoever said not to employ nurses is a sick, selfish b@st@rd

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