Ignorance is not bliss

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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

Specializes in Neuro Critical Care.

Usually I ask a co-worker first, then if we still don't know we look it up together. Our policy book is impossible. If needed we call the doctor or hospital nursing supervisor (night shift).

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That really bothers the heck out of me when I get in report that the pt has this problem or is on this med and I ask "Why?" or "What the heck is that?" and I get the answer "I don't know." !!!!

You have got to be kidding me!!! Glad you're not taking care of me!

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Dear Dawngloves, yes I would have liked to know everything about my patients. However, if you have 8 to 12 patients for one shift it is impossible to know everything. Especially if I just walked in the door after being somewhere else. There is actually no time to look it up. Give me two or three days with the same assignment, even a large one and I can answer all your questions. I think you are being a little to hard on your coworkers.

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

what everyone else said here...and i emphasize i would NOT ask the patient......that would understandably upset him/her. there are WAY too many sources to work with....

something i did not see here....the *internet* provides me alot of info..i use it at work to look up conditions/meds i am not familiar with if i cannot find what i need at work. i am glad we have internet access at work for this reason (no i don't surf in my "free" time, lol).....

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I get MORE steps in my job :).

Depending on WHAT the problem is...and I've used all of these resources at one time or another...

Look it up.

Reread the protocol.

Ask another nurse.

Ask the study monitor.

Ask the medical monitor.

Call a nurse at another site.

Ask the lab.

Ask the doctor (but not if it pertains to the protocol, s/he probably won't know).

Call the Institutional Review Board.

Call the library.

If you have a stumper question that no one seems to be able to answer (and we get them in this end of the business), the trick is to ask each person who doesn't have an answer who you should call next...that way you never get a dead end and eventually you get an answer.

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Hi! I use methods 1,2, 3 AND 4 when appropriate! After all, who knows the patient best, except for the patient? Also, even if I THINK I know something or I think I'm making the right decision for a patient, I pretty much ALWAYS get the opinion of another nurse. They're all willing to put their 2 cents in, and I may get a different point of view. It may be overkill, but I'm scared to DEATH of making some horrible mistake!! Christine

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I'm very lucky to work at a teaching hospital, we have our own intranet,a geat library, nad lots of people who love to teach.:)

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Thanks guys for your replys

Most of you said they wouldnt ask the patient.

I would think that the patient would ;be an expert to ask.

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Originally posted by dawngloves

That really bothers the heck out of me when I get in report that the pt has this problem or is on this med and I ask "Why?" or "What the heck is that?" and I get the answer "I don't know." !!!!

You have got to be kidding me!!! Glad you're not taking care of me!

Why? (...Just kidding....)
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Specializes in LTC, ER, ICU,.
originally posted by ohbet

thanks guys for your replys

most of you said they wouldnt ask the patient.

i would think that the patient would ;be an expert to ask.

i know it helps when a patient knows his/her medicaitions. i have had patients to inquire when they see a different color of medicine and i appreciate it from them. it sends up a "red" flag to go and check for the fourth time.
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I would ask the patient questions like; Did the doctor or nurse tell you what this medication is for? Do you know why you are taking this medication? I'm checking to see if there has been any patient teaching started. If not, I might hedge and tell the patient I will get him/her a print out of the medication teaching sheet.

We have access to a computer printout of medication teaching sheets at our facility. I then go over it with the patient. That way I learn and so does the patient.

I don't usually allude to the patient that I don't know. I have on occasion found out that the doctor gave the patient a reason that was an uncommon alternate use for that medication that I hadn't heard of (which has happened several times).

And, it is good that the patient is asking, for safety reasons. He/she may be receiving someone elses medications and you could catch an error before something bad happens.

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