Dumb question...

[vashtee, RN]

Are there official criteria for what constitutes stable, serious, or critical conditions?

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

probably. It is the call of the physician.

[chexycat]

I was on a clinical rotation and observed a new grad nurse respond to the physician on a patient I was about to take over on the day shift. I don't exactly recall how the nurse started out but he ended with "they seemed stable." The physician, very angrily, reponded back with- "WHY DON'T YOU GIVE ME SOME VITALS AND OTHER PERTINENT INFORMATION AND I WILL TELL YOU IF THEY ARE STABLE OR NOT!"

I felt bad for the new nurse but was appreciative for the lesson learned through his experience.

[vashtee, RN]

OK, so nothing objective? Just curious...