who else shows the drain tip after removal?

gwenith, BSN, RN · Apr 11, 2005

Been agency and worked a fair few hospitals and I would say that getting a second person to sight and sign about the tip is not uncommon although it is by no means standard everywhere.

It very much depends on the hospital - some have special labels prefilled that must be signed even so I fear you will find that it is up to the individual facility. I think though that you might have a tough road ahead on this one as many facilities see this as simple documentation and as such ensuring that the nurse is covered. It really has nothing to do with the amount of training we have but the ability for the record to stand up in a court of law and NOT be questioned.

matira · Apr 12, 2005

Been agency and worked a fair few hospitals and I would say that getting a second person to sight and sign about the tip is not uncommon although it is by no means standard everywhere.
It very much depends on the hospital - some have special labels prefilled that must be signed even so I fear you will find that it is up to the individual facility. I think though that you might have a tough road ahead on this one as many facilities see this as simple documentation and as such ensuring that the nurse is covered. It really has nothing to do with the amount of training we have but the ability for the record to stand up in a court of law and NOT be questioned.

Hi Gwenith, What I don't understand is why show the tip to someone? We are only cosigning that we have sighted it. What actuually are we sighting? What are we "covering" ourselves from? Drains are often cut in theatre to the desired length so there is no tip as such. Why a drain when we are making observations continually and not having to have them checked by another nurse and cosigned eg wound healing, flap viability etc. When removing an iv canula we do not have it checked and signed.

I looked for an actual policy in our hospital and could not find one. When I began on the ward I was told this is what we do and now the Grads are also being told the same. I am looking to see if this is word of mouth from some very old policy because of old drains used in the past. And if this arose from an incident from how far back.

Surgeons remove a drain and do not have it checked by a colleague for fear of being covered in court. Why do we as nurses feel that we cannot make such a simple judgement by ourselves.

I would appreciate a policy from another hospital to see the rationale.

thanks

gwenith, BSN, RN · Apr 14, 2005

Here is a thought - try emailing the Joanna Briggs Institute or checking their website. They have clinical practice guidelines and this is the sort of thing that they LIKE looking into, from what I gather.

It is a good question and one that I suspect does not have a straghtforward answer. But then on the other hand it could just be another case of "taking the flowers out of the ward at night":rolleyes:

matira · Apr 21, 2005

Here is a thought - try emailing the Joanna Briggs Institute or checking their website. They have clinical practice guidelines and this is the sort of thing that they LIKE looking into, from what I gather.
It is a good question and one that I suspect does not have a straghtforward answer. But then on the other hand it could just be another case of "taking the flowers out of the ward at night":rolleyes:

Thanks Gwenith, good advice I am going to email the institute. My son is a lawyer and whether two signed or not - it makes not difference if the tip was left in - its evidence outways the signatures. Two signatures will not make any difference - two nurses can be seen to be just as incompetent as one.