I was doing wound rounds today. Entered a patient's room to look at his wound. Looked at the person in the bed next to his and saw a long piece of white tape on her arm upon which was written "Please do not use this arm for IVs, blood draws or blood pressures.":uhoh3:
I asked the woman if I could remove the tape and she said "Of course,dear".
I brought the tape out to the nurses station and asked the nurse who was standing there who in the world would ever put a piece of tape on a patient's arm like that. She said "I did". I was practically speechless which is very unlike me. "What ever possessed you to do that???" I asked.
"Oh" she replied "How else would we know that she has a new dialysis shunt and we're not supposed to use that arm?"
I've been a nurse for 25 years and thought I'd seen it all but this sinks to a new low. I calmly explained to her that we have many ways to pass along information...the MAR, the TAR, the ADL care cards, the care plan. She is NOT a new nurse.
Oh but I have a lot of work to do at my new facility!!!!
Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.
Isn't that the whole point of the colored bracelet? I understood blue bands to be the universal "do NOT use this arm" signs.
I guess we live in different universes. We only have one color arm band...clear. At my old facility we used purple arm bands to designate thicken liquids but that was it.
I have to agree with you. I don't believe this is a HIPPA violation and as far as human dignity I think that's stretching it a bit. I'd rather have that on my arm then some uninformed person come in. Granted she could have put a sign up but maybe when she was in the room that was the quickest thing to do to keep the patient safe.
On the other hand she could have done nothing...
When I worked as an agency CNA and would go into a LTCF for a shift, I would be handed an assignment and usually told absolutely nothing about the residents. Considering that fact, a taped-on reminder like that would have been helpful.
Isn't that the whole point of the colored bracelet? I understood blue bands to be the universal "do NOT use this arm" signs.
In school we did a project on evidenced based practice. Someone did a report on use of armbands. The summary was it's very important to mark armbands because different facilities use different colors to mean different things.
For instance at my facility we use green for fall alert. We have cute little stickers but sometimes we can't find them, are out, in a hurry, etc. Some nurses just stick them on the patient plain because "everyone knows we use those for fall alert" but we have a lot of travelers and agency, so I always am sure to write on it with a sharpie "FALL ALERT"
Specializes in Occupational Medicine, Orthopedics.
No matter what the right and ethical answer to this interesting open diologue is, it is definately this:
Challenging and worth researching! Hurrah! Just what this community of caring nurses live for!
Good insight everyone!
Blue
What? You want to know what I think? Oh goodness, you put me on the spot...
Well I just seriously doubt that the nurse who "labled" the resident meant harm in any way, and was quite contrarily trying to avoid harm. Most certainly he/she may think twice now before using that as a useful tool, who knows? Either way, a whole lot of thought will go into my future decisions concerning similar situations. Enough said.
CapeCodMermaid, RN
6,092 Posts
I guess we live in different universes. We only have one color arm band...clear. At my old facility we used purple arm bands to designate thicken liquids but that was it.