Oh, by the way, the pt. has latex allergy (rant).

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

Not once but 3 times in a row today we had pts. with latex allergy. No one in pre-op bothered to chart this on the computer program, write it on the sticker on the outside, fill out the allergy form, PERIOD. Luckily this was caught before the pt. came in the room, THIS time.

Pt. 1, A and O, allergic to betadine, latex, advil. Cirulating nurse finds this out in the interview. Looks and sees nothing about this in or on the chart. Nothing in the computer record. Calls pre-op nurse, who says "oh yeah, he DID tell me that stuff. Silly me, i forgot to fill out that little blue form.":stone

Pt. 2 A and O, allergic to latex, and the powder on exam gloves. Found out this when the pt. said "did the pre-op nurse tell you that i'm very allergic to latex?" Nothing on the chart, etc. same thing as last time. Call the pre-op nurse (different one this time), this one DID fill out the blue form, but couldn't remember where she'd put it.

Pt. 3 A and O, well after the previous incidents, told us ahead of time that the pt. is latex sensitive. Yet their chart, record, etc. said nothing.

I'm planning on preaching (again) about knowing AHEAD of time when someone's allergic to ANYTHING. Granted, people get slammed in pre-op, and i'm not saying ANY of this w/o knowing just how busy it is, because i DO work PRN there, and i know how it can get. I just couldn't get over that 3 pts. in a ROW for ONE surgeon had such a potential for disaster!

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Specializes in Cath Lab, OR, CPHN/SN, ER.

Granted, people get slammed in pre-op, and i'm not saying ANY of this w/o knowing just how busy it is, because i DO work PRN there, and i know how it can get. !

But you know how important that tiny bit of information is! Shame on them for missing such a vital part of patient history! And good for you guys for catching it before someone had a major reaction!

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

The simple answer would be to go latex-free in ALL institutions.

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First finger pointing needs to go to the staff at the physician's office that scheduled the procedure. They should have known this, as well as the surgeon should have known it.

If anesthesia does their pre-op assessment several days in advance, as they do in many facilities nowadays, then that is where the next finger gets pointed.

It should not come down to right before the procedure for the staff to be made aware of this in the OR. And there are those patients that are so sensitive that they have issues if any latex was int he room just a few minutes before.

And if this error came up with the same surgeon, and supplies were wasted for the same surgeon, the costs should get charged to him/his office. I can promise that you won't see that error happening again. One case can slip bt6 once in a great while, but three cases in the same day from the same surgeon? Sorry, but someone needs to go and do an educational day to his office staff. And he needs to foot the bill for it, since he never thought that there was any issue with it, at least I am assuming. I hope that your Director has a nice little talk with him and very soon.

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I can promise you one thing, if I was the Circulator in that room for that day, I would have had that person on the phone, and on speaker phone during the case, explaining why they royally screwed up. Sorry, but I do not take lightly to when this one person could have killed or seriously hurt three different patients, perhpas because he or she did not think that it was important.

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did anyone ever ask the surgeon why the cases were not boarded with latex allergy

stamped across the paperwork?

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

While i completely agree that the surgeon, hsi staff, etc. were at fault, that still doesn't cover why the allergy sheet wasn't getting sent with the pt., IF the form was filled out at all, OR not 'lost'.

Typically the schedule says "latex allergy", however, the blue form is supposed to indicate the other allergies, along with what kind of reactions they get.

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The amount of times I have to remind doctors/dentists/nurses that its clearly written on my allergies! I'm actually quite scared about their lack of knowledge... sure, the times I've reminded them so far, I've been A&O, but what happens when I'm unconscious and have my first severe reaction!

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
The simple answer would be to go latex-free in ALL institutions.

Well, that would make too much sense.:uhoh21:

They'd have to find decent latex-free gloves, though. Those that we have now are horrible, no give, too baggy. I typically wear a 6 1/2 or 7 in golves, i wear a 5 in the LF ones, and even then they're baggy.

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Where I work we write the allergies on an armband & place it on the patient next to the name band. We also label the chart, and of course the checklist. If we know about the latex allergy ahead of time it's on the schedule. I've worked pre & post-op for yrs, and I know how crazy it is, but that is vital info. The first 2 questions we always ask are NPO status & allergies. The last hospital I worked was latex-free, but we were just as vigilant about communicating a latex allergy as where I'm at now- which is not entirely latex-free. Maybe an inservice would help?? I agree the best thing would be all latex-free facilities-- maybe someday!!

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