False vitals data???

[jval]

False vitals data! Long story short, a girl in the same room as me took a pt's vital signs. She presented me with the data and it included a b/p... I asked her how she got it because she didn't have the station's cuff or stethoscope. She told me she had her own equipment. I asked her, "Where?" then she told me she had magic hands!

This CNA has been on my station for 8 years. I'm brand new (second week).

I told the charge nurse that I hadn't seen her use any device to measure vitals.

What the heck? Why give false data? What are consequences of false vitals?

[LCinTraining]

When you have 18-23 patients, have only manual cuffs that aren't callibrated or are totally broken, you have to wait 2 hours for a thermometer because there's only one and the nurse needs the vitals by a certain time, well...it would take my entire shift just to get vital signs. Understaffing and poor equipment are why people make up vitals. I'm not saying it's ok at all, but that's why it happens.

There should never be a why. Ever. Sorry, I just don't buy this. So what if it takes me all shift to get vitals? I have the same problem at my job and would never dare dream of making things up.

I could KILL someone doing that.

To even suggest this as an excuse terrifies me and makes me want to overtake care for every patient in my facility just so I know things are getting done right. Seriously people, human lives are at stake here.

I know you said at the very end it doesn't make it o.k. All I can focus on is the huge "but" you provided after that statement. If I ever caught someone doing it, we would probably become enemies. I would give them one chance to correct their actions. If they even stuttered, I would report them directly to charge. I will not play games with human lives. EVER.

[WannaBNursey, ADN, ASN, RN]

To even suggest this as an excuse terrifies me and makes me want to overtake care for every patient in my facility just so I know things are getting done right.

Then you should volunteer your services. It would be a wonderful help if one person were to go around and take everybody's vital signs. I know there are a lot of problems in a lot of LTC facilities and they need to be fixed. If they're not people will continue to take short cuts...they just won't tell you.

[LCinTraining]

And they will kill someone. Plain and simple.

[Kitsey]

I'm glad we don't take vitals at my LTCF. We didn't even learn to take blood pressure in my class.

[nguyency77, CNA]

Laurie, thank you for sharing. I hope people learn something from it.

[kellycinalli]

Not for nothing, I work in a rehab facility where I have 17 patients and would never trust anything but my own ears to get the vitals. And yes u r playing with people's lives. And ppl making up vitals not having a bm isn't just were understaffed. It's laziness! I will get my own vitals and ask the patient or the aide if they had a bowel movement. Hope when u r about to give a vasodilator and they record the blood pressure as 120/70 and it's really 90/60 ur patient doesn't crash and fall. Then I bet u would be getting ur own blood pressure cause now u r doing an incident report.

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[pnkgirl25]

I am in CNA school right now and our teacher teaches the same thing. She says for all you going on to be nurses and having to pass meds her advices was "I don't give a @#&$ what the chart says...check vitals with your own eyes". Words i will live by. I would never be able to live with myself knowing I killed someone over such a carless mistake.

For the people who say they can't get vitals due to lack of equipment? You guys don't cary your own B/P cuffs?

[nguyency77, CNA]

I am in CNA school right now and our teacher teaches the same thing. She says for all you going on to be nurses and having to pass meds her advices was "I don't give a @#&$ what the chart says...check vitals with your own eyes". Words i will live by. I would never be able to live with myself knowing I killed someone over such a carless mistake.

For the people who say they can't get vitals due to lack of equipment? You guys don't cary your own B/P cuffs?

Right? I bring my own cuff and my own stethoscope. My facility's RoboNurse is always acting up (i.e. spitting out blood pressures of 190/110, but the manual reading is actually 100/60). I just don't trust it, and it's not like your management's gonna take the blame for you when someone gets seriously hurt.

When I was new, it took me a long time to get vitals. But it's okay, since I can rest easy that no one was hurt on my watch.

There's just no excuse for making up vitals. Ever.

[Hygiene Queen]

For some bizarre reason, some aides seem to think there is some great "trouble" they can get into if they cannot get vitals.

I have no clue why.

Think about it: even the fact that a patient is refusing vitals, that is-- in and of itself-- telling you something about that patient.

Does it hurt?

Is there a change in mental status?

Are they "giving up" and starting to refuse care?

It is legitimate to report to the nurse that the patient refused and it has nothing to do with your abilities as an aide.

As for vitals outside of parameters-- why the big freak out?

Obviously, if everyone's vitals were normal all the time, there wouldn't be much point in getting vitals, now would there?

Do aides assume they must have done it wrong?

Do they fear they will be perceived as incompetent?

Have they dealt with nurses who give them a hard time about abnormals because the nurse doesn't want to have to follow up?

Are they dealing with crappy equipment?

Do they really know how to use the equipment?

Do they realize that some patients are just super hard to get vitals on, and even good nurses can struggle with getting a decent reading?

And if it's any of these things, why aren't these aides speaking up?

I wonder because, as an aide, you don't really have to do anything about abnormals... just report them.

Then it's up to the nurse.

Now, let's discuss honesty and work ethic.

Some folks just don't have any.

A lie is quicker than doing the work.

They slip through the cracks and pass their class and get a job...

And then we all have to deal with it.

[englishgeek]

I was told day one of training, "You'll get where you can tell who breathes 18-20 breaths." What?! Um...no. I will be counting everyone's respiratory rate myself.

[ajr31]

Oh my, that is very dangerous. Vital signs are so important in determining the patients status. Many women have no signs and symptoms of hypertension and the initial start of infection can start with just a fever. Not only that, but different medications can cause bradycardia and tachycardia also. No excuse at all for making up vital signs.

[malamud69, BSN, RN]

Like everything else...even with all the juicy posts above, lazy is lazy is lazy...people crying about broken equipment and its a hassle etc...and the patients do not want it done...blah blah...what are (you) a bunch of 2 year olds...I have said it before on other posts you people that complain like this wouldn't last 1 day on a construction job. Wake up! Vitals reported wrong/false whatever the case can easily mean DEATH for the patient. If LTC is too taxing for you...leave! Go flip burgers at some poison food joint...oh no there might be a line waiting for their orders... could you handle that? And by the way at the most basic level as a CNA you are taught to take vitals by palpating the patient...remember that...touching them...actual hands on assessment at the most basic level? Radial pulse...can you multiply and count by 4? And manual BP..at least every medical facility has a manual BP cuff and a cheap stethoscope...and wow counting respirations...hmmm...look and count! Wow! I agree with some of the above posts lazy is lazy and some people have zero work ethic so much that they would endanger a life out of shear laziness.