hospitalists

TazziRN, RN · Jun 16, 2007

From a transferring hospital's point of view, they're great. Working at a rural hospital, I often had to transfer pts who did not have private docs at the receiving facility. The on-call specialists were sometimes difficult to deal with, because they don't like accepting new pts over the phone, especially in the off-hours. If my pt didn't have a doctor, we could call the hospitalist uness they needed one of the specialists.

allnurses Guide · Jun 16, 2007

Our hospitalist program works really well. Most of the independent PCPs have their patients admitted by them. If the hospitalist does the admit, then they are the ones called, they don't consult on admits done by a private PCP. They cover for each other, and they do consult with specialists, who are just as glad to have the hospitalist do all the routine hospital care.

EmmaG, RN · Jun 16, 2007

Our hospital hired a group of hospitalists and all but one of the Family Practice docs gave up their admitting privileges to this group.

Working nights, this was awesome. There was a level of mutual trust and respect; they learned that they could trust my assessments and opinions; also, they were on duty throughout the night, so there wasn't the issue of trying to talk to a doc who's half-asleep when issues arose with their patients, and they were right there to come eyeball the patient if need be. The other groups soon found that these guys were good, and would consult them if problems arose. It was a "safety net" of sorts that I hadn't experienced before, and took quite a burden off my shoulders.

fronkey bean · Jun 16, 2007

Our hospital hired a group of hospitalists and all but one of the Family Practice docs gave up their admitting privileges to this group.
Working nights, this was awesome. There was a level of mutual trust and respect; they learned that they could trust my assessments and opinions; also, they were on duty throughout the night, so there wasn't the issue of trying to talk to a doc who's half-asleep when issues arose with their patients, and they were right there to come eyeball the patient if need be. The other groups soon found that these guys were good, and would consult them if problems arose. It was a "safety net" of sorts that I hadn't experienced before, and took quite a burden off my shoulders.

I think that was what I was expecting from the ones here, was really disapointed in what we got.:smackingf

EmmaG, RN · Jun 16, 2007

I think that was what I was expecting from the ones here, was really disapointed in what we got.:smackingf

Since I've started the travel job, I've found that our hospitalist group was indeed unique. I really miss them

P_RN, ADN, RN · Jun 16, 2007

So far I'm on the fence here. Only one hospitalist that I know at the Catholic Hospital.

My DH was admitted under the hospitalist's name because our family doctor no longer makes hospital rounds.

It was a good 7 hours before the hospitalist came by only to say he was referring DH to a urologist. He did however write IV abx and diet orders.

The urologist didn't come til the next pm and said since the abx worked so fast he could be discharged on oral meds. Not the way I had imagined the hospitalist system would have worked.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jun 16, 2007

In theory, it's a great idea. In practice, it's a tossup in my experience. Yes, it's nice that there's usually one of them around to get an order changed since so many of our patients come in without primary care (and therefore get one of the hospitalists). On the other hand, they're supposed to BE on hand and at night they usually can't be found; if I've gotta wake someone up and wait for a callback for an order, what difference does it make to me if it's a hospitalist or a PCP?

A downside, too, is that their admissions FAR outweigh any other MD's admissions for the rule-outs, and multiple tests for days on end for thousands of dollars (for our frequent flyers we know are using us for reasons other than legit medical). Seems like they justify why they're employed by keeping lots of people checked into Hospital Hotel.

NBMom1225 · Jun 16, 2007

Sorry for asking a newbie question, but what exactly is a 'hospitalist'? I start nursing school this fall...

EmmaG, RN · Jun 16, 2007

Sorry for asking a newbie question, but what exactly is a 'hospitalist'? I start nursing school this fall...

Internal medicine specialists in hospital care. They don't have their own practices outside the hospital.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_medicine

CVICURN2003 · Jun 16, 2007

What do y'all (southern and proud of it;) ) think of hospitalists? My institution recently added two who were and still are part of a local internal med. group and it doesn't seem to be any different. I had this notion that we would always call them when the pt was in the hospital but was told by one of them I should call the primary first. I don't know if this is a common experience or if it just isn't working here.

Ours are idiots at the current time. We have had a few (VERY FEW) that had a brain. Ours are just dangerous sometimes. The ones we seem to hire are just out of residency. All but two pf our primary care doc practices do not admit or do rounds anymore. All of the nurses have the PCP's that admit. I like the theory behind it. And if we had some that were not so dangerous, I would love it. We usually try to get a consult and hope it is a pulmonay/ critical care doc!!! We had one hospitalist last week that thought the radiologist should put in a chest tube!! Just to say...maybe that happens other places, but not our hospital, our CT guys or Pulm do it.

They scare me

TigerGalLE, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2007

Our hospitalists are wonderful. There are usually 2-3 rounding on days plus a NP that rounds as well. They cover for each other. And if you can't find one and need something the other one will help you out. They always call you right back and will come to the floor quickly if you need them. When I see that my patients are being seen by the hospitalist I am usually relieved. I trust them and they are always very thorough.