INFORMATION RE: PRIORITIZATION, can you share?

steel magnolia · May 4, 2004

I can't offer any ideas on websites, but I can tell you how I prioritize, and what I learned when studying for my exam, basically, you follow Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs. First is to provide the essentials, air, food water, etc... Then, in that category, the ABC's... Airway, Breathing, Circulation. So, if you had an assigment and had to choose between a pt who is mourning the loss of a breast s/p mastectomy, or a pt with dyspnea, as far as which pt you would check on first in rounds type of thing, check the pt w the breathing problems first.

Hope that helps a little.

suzanne4, RN · May 4, 2004

You go for the things that are life-threatening first, or have the potential to be.

Any problems with respiratory system would be a the top of the list.

Simple example: You get a multiple trauma patient into the ER. Injuries are open fracture of tib-fib, right hip fracture, collapsed lung.

Your first priority would be a chest tube, then the open tib-fib because that is considered an emergent procedure, with the hip to follow, as it could actually wait a few hours.

Hope that this makes it a little easier for you to understand.

Good luck on your exam...... :balloons:

chronicTX · May 12, 2004

I can't offer any ideas on websites, but I can tell you how I prioritize, and what I learned when studying for my exam, basically, you follow Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs. First is to provide the essentials, air, food water, etc... Then, in that category, the ABC's... Airway, Breathing, Circulation. So, if you had an assigment and had to choose between a pt who is mourning the loss of a breast s/p mastectomy, or a pt with dyspnea, as far as which pt you would check on first in rounds type of thing, check the pt w the breathing problems first.
Hope that helps a little.

Helps a lot steel, I really appreciate it!:)

chronicTX · May 12, 2004

You go for the things that are life-threatening first, or have the potential to be.
Any problems with respiratory system would be a the top of the list.
Simple example: You get a multiple trauma patient into the ER. Injuries are open fracture of tib-fib, right hip fracture, collapsed lung.
Your first priority would be a chest tube, then the open tib-fib because that is considered an emergent procedure, with the hip to follow, as it could actually wait a few hours.
Hope that this makes it a little easier for you to understand.
Good luck on your exam...... :balloons:

Hey suzanne, learning has never been this fun! Thanks so much for the tips... Hope to hear more from you soon...

nightingale, RN · May 12, 2004

Breathing is always a priority. Also, look at the safety concerns as a concern if it is emergent.

Good luck to you and let us know how we can help.

night

chronicTX · May 19, 2004

Thanks for the concern. I'm learning so much from the replies on this website. I sure won't forget what you shared today!