Ignorance is not bliss

There are those nurses who dont know they dont know something,be it a diagnosis ,procedure ,or whatever,and there are those nurses who know they dont know,and if I were a patient I would prefer the later to the former.

Any way,Im just curious about something,pretend this is a national nursing poll, what do you usually you do when you dont know something?[procedure or a medical condition or whatever] Do you:

1. Look it up in a text?

2.. Ask a collegue?

3. Refer to the P and P?

4. Ask the Patient?

5. Procede with blindly?,[God help the patient]

6.Other?

Thank you

[Brownms46]

I look it up...be it a DX...a med..or whatever! If I can't find it...I ask somebody...be a nurse...an MD...or a pharmacist...and whomever. I also look a procedure in the P and P....because you would be surprise how many folks don't know what's in the P&P...in their own hospitals.:)

[shygirl]

Numbers.....1,2,&3!

[Sleepyeyes]

what browns said :)

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

one

[OBNURSEHEATHER]

I use my coworkers as my first line of defense. When none of us know, it's time to move on to textbooks and P&P manuals.

Heather

[boggle, ASN, RN]

Have you ever seen our Policy -procedure manuals?? They are a nightmare!

....several large binders full of numbered policies

......no index that remotely relates to the page or policy numbers

......you could look through them for hours and still not find what you are looking for.

So I check the texts or ask pharmicist, anesthesia, surgeons, other docs, nurses from specialty units nurses working beside me.

Our manuals may be poor, but our team of coworkers are wonderful, the best!

[live4today, RN]

Originally posted by ohbet

There are those nurses who dont know they dont know something,be it a diagnosis ,procedure ,or whatever,and there are those nurses who know they dont know,and if I were a patient I would prefer the later to the former.

Any way,Im just curious about something,pretend this is a national nursing poll, what do you usually you do when you dont know something?[procedure or a medical condition or whatever] Do you:

1. Look it up in a text?

2.. Ask a collegue?

3. Refer to the P and P?

4. Ask the Patient?

5. Procede with blindly?,[God help the patient]

6.Other?

Thank you

I look it up, ask questions of the right people.......certainly NOT the patients :chuckle ......and I never tell a patient something unless I am 100% certain I know what I'm talking about. I will tell them I will find out the answer they seek and get back with them. :)

[Love-A-Nurse]

i try to seek the information first by myself and if i am sure (sometimes, i get another opinion/depending on the "problem at hand"), then ask another peer, pharm and or doctor.

[Brownms46]

Originally posted by boggle

Have you ever seen our Policy -procedure manuals?? They are a nightmare!

....several large binders full of numbered policies

......no index that remotely relates to the page or policy numbers

......you could look through them for hours and still not find what you are looking for.

So I check the texts or ask pharmicist, anesthesia, surgeons, other docs, nurses from specialty units nurses working beside me.

Our manuals may be poor, but our team of coworkers are wonderful, the best!

The hospital I'm at now...P&P is online...and easily assessible..

[debyan]

It depends who I am working with and if they are busy. Usually I ask the nurses working with me, if they are busy I check in the P&P,Then if I can't find it there I go to the text. If all else fails I find the RN in charge she know everything:) I would never ask the resident or just try it on my own, Deby

[nimbex, RN]

I'm usually the senior nurse, So I make a point of always asking my peers what they would do and we have a discussion on rationale, experiences relating and supporting facts, fancy way of saying BS about the subject.

This gets everyone's opinion(the 4 or 5 of us) which gives me many ideas to choose from and shows the newer people it's AOK not to know.

All the above assumes the proceedure is not in the policy books... I'm familiar with whats in there, not each policy

then the doc....

Never the patient

so 2, then 5 (and 5 is just using common sense) assuming the question is not in the policy books which is always the bible to me.