Forgetting things...

[mcknis]

SO just last night I was giving report to the noc shift nurse and I forgot to tell her that there was a NTG patch on the pts chest, or that I forgot to hang a 1700 Levaquin dose and ended up getting a phone call at 2100 at my house to let me know about it. I forgot to restart it because the IV infiltrated and just did not hook it back up. The nurse was kind and compassionate about the issue, but i felt soooo horrible that I forgot these two important issues.

Is there a way that you guys have found to not forget info? I try to write it down, but sometimes I overlook the points. Is there a great way to organize info for care of 6-7 pts. I find I am overwhelmed with just the meds at times, let alone the actual care and decision making...

[love-d-OR]

Forgot to draw an antibiotic level that was scheduled at 1900, during shift change! As I was giving report the nurse asked about it so, I had to go back in and draw it.

Anyway, I have been using my report sheet as a reminder. I check it every hour.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I've used a digital kitchen timer before. Years ago we had syringe pumps that only had a rate, but no volume to be infused or countdown timer. We'd often get an order to run infusion X at 5 mL per hour for 15 minutes then decrease the rate to 2 mL per hour, or something like that. Well, I'd forget. All the time. By the time I'd remember, it might be 20 minutes, or if I was busy it might be an hour. So I bought a mini-timer. No more forgetting.

I too use my flowsheet as a reminder of scheduled meds and interventions. I write them in with a pencil and erase them as they're done. Since we do hourly vitals, it's hard to overlook the list of to-dos.

[Pat_Pat RN]

I use my Palm all the time. I set alarms for all the times of my meds, any procedures, etc. That way I don't forget to do things.....usually.

We just changed to using McKesson's "Care....somthing". Anyway, everything we have to do, or remember is listed right on it. Vital sign times, diet, O2, fluid rate, when the bag is due to be changed, labs to be drawn, everything. And if it isn't on there, we can put a note in.

IE: I had a pt. with an infusaport accessed, we're supposed to do dressing changes on those, depending on what dressing is on it. Every 24 hours if we put gauze under the occlusive, 72 hours if not. I changed it but there wasn't an "order" in to remind the person who will need to change it in 72 hours, and since we don't use a written cardex anymore, there wasn't anywhere to write it. So I just put an "order" in the computer for the dressing change, so it will "start" at 0900 on 9/3, it will pop up for whatever nurse has that patient.

I really like the system, but I'm young, some of the older nurses don't.