A Feather in my Cap!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

  • Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

There's always talk about lawsuits against the hospital after we hear of a situation where a patient's condition worsened and care was not properly rendered and/or documented.

Such was the talk of a patient I admitted some time ago. All I heard were stories from other staff members and no administrative official ever said anything to me about the patient, so I wasn't concerned.

This morning I had to attend a mandatory inservice on safety which primarily focused on duties and documentation having to do with staff assignments, patient rounds, observation levels, restraints, and fall risks.

Again, this patient that I had admitted was discussed. I don't remember exactly what was said, but it had to do with the patient's worsened condition and staff's intervention and documentation.

At the end of the inservice, the second-in-command of the psych division, my boss's boss, approached me and said, "There's something I've been meaning to tell you" and she again referred to the aforementioned patient.

Her exact words were: "Your documentation saved our ***!"

I felt pretty good about that and wanted to share it with you all.

ruby_jane, BSN, RN

3,142 Posts

Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

Let your charting tell the story. Good job!

Daisy4RN

2,221 Posts

Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.

Yes, it is always nice to hear something good once in a while!!:bookworm::geek:

Davey Do

10,476 Posts

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
At the end of the inservice, the second-in-command of the psych division, my boss's boss, approached me and said, "There's something I've been meaning to tell you" and she again referred to the aforementioned patient.

Her exact words were: "Your documentation saved our ***!"

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Not really.

But hey- sex and drama sells!

verene, MSN

1,790 Posts

Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

Way to go DavyDo! Also an important reminder that documentation does actually matter.

Davey Do

10,476 Posts

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Way to go DavyDo! Also an important reminder that documentation does actually matter.

Yesindeedee, verene!

It wasn't like I did any heroic measures, I merely did my job and that was to document my assessment like any other prudent nurse would do.

But it felt good to be recognized by the Higher Ups for something other than not doing right in their eyes.

Some time shortly after the situation and subsequent investigation occurred, a certain nurse was suspended for lack of documentation

Recently, within the past few months, I posted a vent with a cartoon about some nurses who came in typically 10 minutes late for their shift and sat in the nurses station for about 20 minutes doing nothing. During that time, my work wife Eleanor and I worked the floor, providing care for the patients. I was ticked with their behavior and told them so. I got a bunch of guff thrown back at me, didn't argue with them, just turned away and said, "I'm out of here!"

Here's an updated cartoon of the situation:

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"What comes around, goes around."

JBMmom, MSN, NP

4 Articles; 2,537 Posts

Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

Glad to hear that your efforts were recognized. You considering it just doing your job, but a good work ethic and attention to detail are sometimes hard to come by these days, nice work!

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Not really.

But hey- sex and drama sells!

Oh, Davey, you reminded me of my first day on my gero-psych rotation in nursing school. I sat down next to the man I'd been assigned to, and our conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi, I'm adventure_rn, I'm a nursing student and I'd love to ask you some questions.

Patient: ... [stares me dead in the eyes] ...

Patient: All my friends are Media stars.

Me: :wideyed:

Needless to say, my patient assignment was changed pretty quickly.

Specializes in Adult Primary Care.

Good job!!!!!

T-ROD, LPN

101 Posts

Specializes in Pediatric.

When I worked group home I had a resident that was crashing fast. I had always told my new nurses that if anything bad was happening to get in front of the cameras. We had cameras in the day rooms and lunch room.

I did just that. My med cart was right under a camera and my patient sat in her w/c right next to me. I sent her out by ambulance and though she did survive it was a big to do. We had two employees that got terminated the same day. They reported a hotline that the resident had been neglected. Case was filled. I had to do interviews and so did everyone else. Anyways!! That video proved that I tended to her every 2 minutes or more and had done every nursing intervention I could've possibly done. Including time I placed 911 call. Documentation backed every move!!! Thank god for those cameras!!

Davey Do

10,476 Posts

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
We had cameras in the day rooms and lunch room.

At Wrongway Regional Medical Center, there are multiple cameras on the unit in just about every public place including the nurses station. There's also a big screen TV monitor in the nurses station.

Back about 15 years ago, when I first started at WRMC, there was one which monitored an area outside of the locked doors to the unit. The monitor was about the size of a lunchbox and sat in the corner on a counter in the nurses station.

Here's a sketch I did of it back in '03:

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