Flow Charge Nurse

[vaughanmk]

I work in an ED and we are trying to implement a Flow coordinator position. The poor gal is striking out repeatedly. Nothing seems to work. Do you utilize a flow nurse in your facility. If so, what does this nurse do? We currently have a charge nurse that does nursing assignments (who sits by the viacom), a full FTE scheduler, a ED Tech trained to room patients appropriately from the waiting room after triage. Not sure what is left for this person to do!

[AngelicDarkness]

I'm not sure what else that position could do either. There isn't much she could do to "speed up the flow" in ED.....is it a mandatory position? Maybe she could be an assistant charge and help the main CN?

[Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN]

Our flow nurse rooms patients after triage, assists with discharges, turns over rooms, and breaks the triage nurse. We do not use techs to room patients, with the exception of the Fast Track area.

When the flow nurse rooms a patient, they do as much as there is time for, such as starting a line and drawing labs, obtaining a urine specimen, obtaining an MD order for pain and/or nausea protocols, writing the initial nursing note, putting the chart in the rack, and handing the patient off to a nurse in the zone. When things are really busy, the flow nurse just puts the patient in the room and hands them off immediately.

We all take turns doing flow as assigned by the charge nurse.

[KayRN910]

We call that position 2nd triage/float. I think it's what you are talking about. If triage is slammed, they work protocols and put people back into rooms. If not, they try to discharge people. If there is nobody to discharge, then they float around the rooms and help with starting IVs, meds, ect.

Personally, I kind of hate that job, because triage expects you to be up their tail, people get upset if you can't discharge their peeps, ect... It's a busy job, but boooyy do I love it when I've been with a sick one and come out to my other room being discharged, new patient, and that patient already has a line and blood work cookin'!

[ZippyGBR, BSN, RN]

flow management in the ED - the person who has that role is there to expedite and trouble shoot , chasing ward beds, chasing results + getting those that will impact on patient care / progress through the system reviewed, making sure that the junior doctors aren't 'box stirring' the new charts ...