Hello varicose veins! [Caution: VENTING!!]

[simply_precious]

Hey everybody!!! I'm sorry but I just have to vent on this issue.

Recently my hospital decided that we were not allowed to put chairs in the hallway to sit while we document, instead we were suppose to sit at the nurse's station (aka the "you'll be lucky to find somewhere to stand" because it's all occupied by the MD's, interns, PA's, and NP's). Their reasoning behind this is to remove clutter in the hallway, but mind you, our med carts, hallway patients, rolling computers, extra stretchers/wheelchairs and even our code blue cart exceeds the width of the chairs, but yet they are not considered "clutter" and are perfectly fine in the hallway.

Despite the effort of explaining to our manager, director of nursing, and union representative how tiring it is to stand for 12 hours & properly documenting on 6 patients and abiding by the rule of "if it's not documented, it's not done" and managing to have enough strength and energy to do this 3 days in a row without a sick call, nothing changed, everything went in one ear and back out the other. My poor excuse of a manager simply said "just sit at the nurses' station and document." Uhh hello? Have you seen the nurses' station around 11AM, it's nearly impossible to grab a chair to document, unless I'm standing there staring at everyone like a hawk and making a dash for the chair the minute someone gets up. Even if I do get a chair, the minute my patients call bell goes off and I go and answer it, that chair of mine is being occupied by someone else. So than it comes down to should I go answer that call bell? Or finish documenting and go check on the patient in 5 minutes which will ultimately decrease our ever so precious Press Ganey score. It's a no win situation.

I have on stockings & comfortable nursing shoes, but can't escape going home feeling 50% more exhausted and drained. Do they really expect us to stand on our feet for 12 hours straight? Hello varicose veins! Now I haven't been a RN for too long but I'm so frustrated! These people have no consideration for us nurses, we're expected to be super hero's to manage and juggle everything with perfection. To provide excellent nursing care, to connect with our patients, to teach preventive measures and perform superb documentation but yet we can't properly be given the right tools (i.e.: chairs) to perform adequately. Does this make sense to you guys? Cause I've been thinking about it for a long time and it just doesn't make sense.

:thnkg:

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

It doesn't make sense to me...but then again, since when did management start deciding what was best for staff.....The easiest thing to do, in my opinion, is chart as you go, true. But take the breaks you need to. If leaving your seat for any reason, do as I do. If I'm trying to catch up on charting from earlier, I write a quick note, set it in front of the comp, and says "I'm providing service to my patients. If I'm not back in 5 mins from (x time), please feel free to take my seat. However, when I return, I will ask you to move as soon as reasonably possible."

Or "HEY! I'm sitting here!"

Sounds to me like management needs to get 2-3 more chairs around the station. Is there anywhere else, but not in a hallway, like a back room, or some corner out of the way, where you could sit on a counter, per se, and chart? I know it doesn't look great, but hey, in the middle of 10 min charting, I've gotta have a seat.

I understand though, JACHO is coming through, and we're supposed to start putting W/Cs, dynamaps, beds, etc out of the way....but we don't have room enough for the equipment we have! Just part of the fun of work, I guess.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Try going into an empty room, if you have one. Bring the bedside table over to a chair and voila, your personal office. Get a few nurses in there, and you'll have a new nurses' station expansion whether management likes it or not.

[oldiebutgoodie, RN]

Try going into an empty room, if you have one. Bring the bedside table over to a chair and voila, your personal office. Get a few nurses in there, and you'll have a new nurses' station expansion whether management likes it or not.

Actually, one of my best charting situations was once when a patient had expired, the nephew had already begrudgingly come to sign the papers for his 99 year old auntie to release her to funeral home, post mortem care had not yet been done because the tech was afraid to come in the room without another tech. I was able to use that room for a good 3-4 hours to do all my documentation! And the patient didn't hit that call bell once.

Oldiebutgoodie

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

I don't have any problem moving everyone out of my space....you may want to try turning off computer screen and placing Out of Order sign on it. That has worked in the past for us. Most physicians will not, or don't know how to check.

If you have mobile computers, take them with you into patient rooms and chart.

If your floor has a physicians area....all prescribing personnel need to be there and not in the nurses station! If your manager has no guts, keep going!

Good luck,

Maisy;)

[cubelle]

I feel the same way you do on this issue! Part of the reason why I'm looking at jobs in home health. If enough people leave the hospital after making these silly changes, maybe they will get the point.

[DirtyBlackSocks]

Bring a folding lawn chair into work - one of the really small ones that folds out in four directions to make a seat.

Stash it somewhere, and bring it out when you're ready to document. If some one calls you out on it, tell them the nurses station is full.

Maybe they'll let that slide?