getting patients ready for OR

[anononurse]

I've been a pre-op/pacu RN for 10 yrs & just started a new job. At the hospital I came from we pre-op RNs would each get our own patients ready- sometimes 2 at a time, & it worked very efficiently & each RN was responsible for her own patients. Here at my new job, the nurses flock on every patient and one will check paperwork, another will start the IV, another take vitals- still another give a med-- I find this all very confusing & unnecessary. For one thing, if I'm prepping the patient, then I will do the assessment, sign my name to the chart, start the IV & give the pre-op meds. But the way they do things here- someone else may be signing their name to MY assessment- I have a problem w/this. I'm not talking about emergent cases, those are prepped ASAP of course, I'm talking about routine elective surgeries. It's making me crazy- they do everything in 'groups'- even all take lunch together- which is very inefficient since one RN can easily prep a couple patients while another goes to eat- there are days I don't eat until 3 p.m.!! --Am I behind the times & this is the way it's done now?? Whatever happened to continuity? Another thing they do is 'stack' patients- meaning even if a surgeon is running an hour behind, they'll still admit ALL his patients as they come in- which clogs things up. I'm not seeing any 'benefit' to doing things this way- they are not as busy as the hospital I came from & things here just don't run as smoothly & it's partly due to their system. I am very confident in my skills & tho I welcome extra hands when needed, I don't feel this method is working well. As a patient I would find this confusing. Am I being unreasonable? If so, please enlighten me as to how to adapt!

[nickola]

As a NURSE I would find this confusing too!! Where I work we each get our own patients ready for OR- there are plenty of other things to be done in pre-op if patients are coming in one at a time. 'Ganging up' on a patient as you describe does not sound efficient at all. I like to know what's going on w/my patients and I am responsible for them until they go to OR or I hand my patients over to another RN. As for not getting lunch until 3 p.m.?? That's just totally ridiculous. Have you tried telling the others that you prefer to prep your own patients for OR? If that hasn't worked, I would go to management & confidentially voice my concerns. It should not take more than one RN to ready a patient for the OR- unless they are emergent or have other issues. I have consulted w/my coworkers re: concerns about a pre-op patient, but I know that's not what you're referring to. Where I work pre-op also helps PACU & vice versa- for lunch relief, etc. maybe your colleagues are trying to avoid that by all 'looking busy'? Just a thought!

[blancogato]

"As a NURSE I would find this confusing too!! Where I work we each get our own patients ready for OR- there are plenty of other things to be done in pre-op if patients are coming in one at a time. 'Ganging up' on a patient as you describe does not sound efficient at all. I like to know what's going on w/my patients and I am responsible for them until they go to OR or I hand my patients over to another RN."

I agree with you Nikola...if many nurse handles just one patient, then who would be responsible for the patient among the many if pre-op meds/preps was not properly carried-out???

[campbahoo]

If I were the patient I think I would ask for more serenity. We each prep our own patients and obviously help if needed. Sometimes another nurse will come start my IV if they have free time but that would be all.