I'm a new school nurse at a High School, and more than once I've felt that they look at me like I'm dumb. The funny thing is that the nurse who oriented me told that they do that (lol)
Earlier, they came in to take a student to the hospital to get checked out because his pupils were the size of the moon (suspected drug abuse) and he was non responsive, EMT asked me if I knew his history, I said no, he replied "Oh so you're not the nurse",
.... Uh yes I am, excuse me if I don't know the history of my 300+ students
So yeah, I only know if I'm in front of my computer. Ugh. Plus I don't really know what to do when they come in, I just let them take over. Maybe I shouldn't ? Eh I don't know. lol
Ok , everybody needs to simmer down a little. Before everyone says nurses have more education and such, while yes it may be true in the form of classroom stuff, medics have two year degrees now and with most states requiring 18 hours of conED along with ACLS, PALS, PHTLS, CPR, Hazmat certs and other certifications required for the job, everybody needs to respect the others job and position. (Steps off soapbox).
As a medic in a nursing program right now I am seeing the responsibilities and knowledge required for nurses.
I have seen every type of call there basically is (20 years as a medic). The attitude that may be conveyed towards a school nurse probably isn't personally directed at the person who met the EMS crew but rather is slight burn out that they just took Mary Smith from the local nursing home 1/2 hour earlier because the LPN said the patient pulled her gtube out for the 90th time this year and has to go to the ER again, it gets a little old. Yes, i know it's part of the job, but in the same sense if the same kid came to the school nurses office every other day complaining of a hang nail, you would become a little desensitized.
I assure you that the medic isn't on the way to your school thinking to himself " oh this is a school nurse, I'm gonna be rude, disrespectful and ignore any information they may provide. That is just not the case. When a medic gets on scene they get so focused on the patient that everything else gets blocked out. While they may not acknowledge you or even look at you while you are speaking to them, I guarantee they are listening to you for key words: allergies, Pmx, meds.
Everybody is on the same team, to take care of the patient to the best of our abilities.
So just because a patient pulls there G-Tube out that's grounds for the EMS crew to come to the nursing home and have an attitude toward the nursing home staff? Have you ever been an LPN or a Nurse of any kind for that matter ? A patient with dementia and a behavioral history may pull her G-Tube out again and again, how is this the Nurses fault ? Do you know that when a Nurse in LTC sends his/her patient out to ER it's not something we're eager to do. This often takes a half hour or longer and almost always interrupts a med pass of 40 plus residents.
So I'm gonna ask you while I got you on the line Mr Paramedic what would you like the Nurse to do when a patient pulls there G-Tube out in the nursing home ? Let them stay there and not receive any enteral feelings that was ordered that night, any meds? How would an LPN as a licensed nurse explain that to a board of nursing? To family member, to an attending physician? It may be frustrating and I get that because u used to be an EMT but we all got to do what we got to do and there should be no excuses for cocky, rude, or any behavior that inhibits actual patient care and communication.
Usually after report I am then placed on ignore - which is worse idiot or ignored?
Great EMT story; in the summer I work as a camp nurse in the Poconos - Honesdale if anyone knows the area. Weekly trip to Wal-Mart (I believe the one that started "People of Wal-Mart" web sight). Pouring rain as another nurse and I are heading to the exit. We see a guy on his back in the parking lot at the entrance (knock-off Crocs - worn smooth). The other nurse has on a rain jacket and takes the lead. We can clearly see blood on the back of his head. There are now several people around him and my nurse looks up with an OMG get me out of here look. In the distance sirens are approaching. She gets up and we all scramble to our car. I ask what was that look about? She tells us a guy came up and said "someone write these numbers down - I am a paramedic" She's thinking "great, all's well - we have support here." 'Paramedic' holds injured mans wrist for a minutes and says "120/80":nailbiting: - we laughed ALL summer about this man and his finger blood pressure. We did x-rays, temps, & cat scans all summer with our 'magic finger.'
THIS IS THE MOST HILARIOUS THING I HAVE EVER READ!
I'm an emergency room nurse. For the best interest of the patient and to continue providing medical care history and as much information as possible is great not only for emts but so that they can pass that information on to the nurse and provider in the ed.
Obv if he has AMS and you need to do something like maintain airway etc then it might be hard to get that information from the computer. However you should have also delegated someone else to get that information if you are unable to. Having files for each patient ready to go in emergency situations is honestly what I would do as a school nurse. You can keep it locked ina file cabinet with a key on your person at all time to maintain hips and then all you would have to do is grab it quickly. You could even do that while ems is loading him up. The way it works is they roll in.. while they are coming in you are verbally giving report (name , dob, allergies , soap) .. and then while they are putting him on monitor and getting him loaded you can say I'm going to go get his medical hx for y'all and hand it to them as they are rolling out the door so they can read it and pass it along to the next person. That is what a RN should be doing. Then I promise they won't look at you like your dumb anymore
Having files for each patient ready to go in emergency situations is honestly what I would do as a school nurse. You can keep it locked ina file cabinet with a key on your person at all time to maintain hips and then all you would have to do is grab it quickly. You could even do that while ems is loading him up.
With all due respect (and I have an enormous amount of respect for ED nurses) Some times we are the ONLY medical person in a building or on a campus. There may be anywhere from 500 to 1500 kids (and staff) we are responsible for. Sometimes spread out over multiple buildings....Before you dispense any ideas on how you would do our job, do our job.
30-40-50 kids per day (in a 7 hour period) where we assess and care for any number of medically complex kids with trachs, insulin adjustments, g tube feeding etc etc....not often, if ever, time to put together a little dossier that can be shared.
THIS IS THE MOST HILARIOUS THING I HAVE EVER READ!
downsouthlaff, LPN
1 Article; 319 Posts
So just because a patient pulls there G-Tube out that's grounds for the EMS crew to come to the nursing home and have an attitude toward the nursing home staff? Have you ever been an LPN or a Nurse of any kind for that matter ? A patient with dementia and a behavioral history may pull her G-Tube out again and again, how is this the Nurses fault ? Do you know that when a Nurse in LTC sends his/her patient out to ER it's not something we're eager to do. This often takes a half hour or longer and almost always interrupts a med pass of 40 plus residents.
So I'm gonna ask you while I got you on the line Mr Paramedic what would you like the Nurse to do when a patient pulls there G-Tube out in the nursing home ? Let them stay there and not receive any enteral feelings that was ordered that night, any meds? How would an LPN as a licensed nurse explain that to a board of nursing? To family member, to an attending physician? It may be frustrating and I get that because u used to be an EMT but we all got to do what we got to do and there should be no excuses for cocky, rude, or any behavior that inhibits actual patient care and communication.