am I the only one who gets nervous when states are here?

Katnip, RN · Feb 6, 2009

YOU are not going to get a citation. One person making an error isn't going to cause the hospital to get one, either. I promise, the future of the hospital does not rest on one person.

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Feb 6, 2009

You probably did fine. They will look everything over. I hate doing tube feed meds for survey. Every med needs separated and flushed after...Yeah..in the real world..all the same time and before and after.

When being observed, I still get a bit nervous. What I do is explain and talk thru everything. I think I make their head spin, LOL

Yes...a mistake by one nurse can get a cite for the facility. It used to be 5% or more error rate. We had a nurse that left an iv bag on the cart and a refrig med out too long...that was a cite. Depending on the error the scope and severity can change. Still.....I wouldn't worry. A lot of times these type of things can be nit picky...like didn't knock or only gave 6 oz of water when the manufacture calls for 8 oz or HOB wasn't up 90 degrees (was up darn near 90...I'd like to see the retractor the surveryor used to determine this one...yeah...nit pick)

Whispera, MSN, RN · Feb 6, 2009

I think everyone gets at least a bit nervous when the state arrives, since they seem to be looking for errors. I don't know that that's the case, but they do dig into everything. Sometimes they aren't very nice to people either. One time I was an instructor with students on a unit. The state person was quite cordial to me as she questioned me, but I heard her yelling at regular staff people several times.

We all want to "pass" the inspection since funding depends on it and the boss is quite nervous at such a time. Feeling nervous is normal.

BEDPAN76 · Feb 6, 2009

Yeh where I work we might as well wear briefs.......

debRN0417 · Feb 6, 2009

It is nerve racking to have someone watch you do anything (it is for me anyway). I try to tell the Nurses I observe to just do what they always do and that things will be fine. I take into consideration that level of nervousness (have been there myself) because it is really hard when you feel you are under pressure. Medication errors are calculated (to be brief) by number of medications by opportunities for error. That gets your error rate. Sometimes it is not a medication error, but an error in technique which is different. I am sure you did fine. The surveyor should have come back to you after reconcilation of the meds and talked to you about the med pass and the observations.

A surveyor should never yell at anyone or be rude. That is not acceptable behavior by any standards...nitpicky, yeah some are...can't do anything about that. Sometimes it is because some of them have not lived in the real world...maybe....

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Feb 7, 2009

The surveys and surveyors get worse every year. Some of them are pleasant but most are downright rude. Lately they have a tendency to misquote people in their reports so we never speak to them by ourselves. I had to do a sterile dressing change once in front of the surveyors. The supervisor was in the room...stood there. It was July...hot as Hades and no air conditioner. I did everything by the book and when it was over, the surveyor looked at the supervisor and said "You could have helped her a little!" Then she turned to me and said, "You have excellent sterile technique." That was 7 years ago and honestly it was the last time I ever heard a surveyor say something nice.

And yes, ONE person's mistake can cause a citation.

debRN0417 · Feb 7, 2009

I am sorry some people are rude. They shouldn't be. The survey process is hard enough without making it adversarial. When I first started, it was like that, but my team has worked very hard to make our facilities feel as comfortable as possible. We are all the same, just in different roles. It is a shame when you feel like you can't answer a question without a witness. That is sad. I worked with someone who was mean. I and team-mates reported it. We talked to the facility administrator and he reported it. (apologized to him too!) That person no longer works for us. I confronted the behavior- you can't treat people like that! We are all here for the same thing, to make sure our folks are getting the best care they can possibly get. Some of the regulations are hard to comply with and there are deficiencies written, but it is a learning process. When I worked as a DON I tried to look at it that way so that the survey helped me to become a better provider.

Nascar nurse, ASN, RN · Feb 7, 2009

Yeh where I work we might as well wear briefs.......

nckdl · Apr 1, 2009

We just had our survey and the nursing part went pretty smooth, they were really nit picky and cited us for maintenace things. When they have to watch my med pass I make sure to use the resident with the most meds that takes them whole and won't refuse them. That way the surveyors get their quota on meds to watch and leave. This has worked for me twice. :yeah:

debRN0417 · Apr 3, 2009

We just had our survey and the nursing part went pretty smooth, they were really nit picky and cited us for maintenace things. When they have to watch my med pass I make sure to use the resident with the most meds that takes them whole and won't refuse them. That way the surveyors get their quota on meds to watch and leave. This has worked for me twice.

Smart girl, but be careful because if there is a complaint or something about medications they may specifically say "I want to watch you give meds to someone who has a g-tube, eye drops, inhalation treatment, ect..." but yes, there is a certain of meds that are watched for the most part.

Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN · Apr 3, 2009

Just finished ours last week. Didn't go as well as desired.