leaving clinic with Patients still in exam rooms?

Nurses Relations

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The large Hospital I work at, I transferred to an eye/plastics clinic-in interview I was told I would work clinic hours-stay over a little once in a while/in reality a Dr stays over 3 times a week and sometimes till 9pm-I questioned this and the (non medical) manager told me just to leave when I'm ready (with Pts still in exam rooms)-the only one left in this clinic is the Dr and a resident (not even a front desk person). when I asked to talk to the head nurse-they would not let me (she works at a different site). These eye patients are not optical Pts and some are in bad shape. I feel this is unethical leaving Pts.

Can I have fellow Nurse feedback?

Thanks, Beth

Maybe the most complex and fragile that are stuck waiting need a nurse navigator or complex care case management team to streamline their care with one system designated office.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia does just this with their complex care team:

Diagnostic and Complex Care Center | The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

There is no reason the same can't be set up for complex geriatrics

THANK YOU!! This is what I was looking for. This hospital is closer to ours (except the eye clinic)and this is what they need

I very seldom comment on this board anymore, but a couple of things are becoming obvious here. The OP said she wanted feedback from fellow nurses and has accepted absolutely none of that feedback. Her answers to us have become nonsensical. I think somebody's having one over on us, folks.

Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
THANK YOU!! This is what I was looking for. This hospital is closer to ours (except the eye clinic)and this is what they need

If you are near CHoP in a renowned regional university hospital then you should be familiar with this program as unless cardiac or CF the children age out to the university medical centers to their complex care coordination units

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

Think of the CHILDREN!!

Thanks everyone! I am not trying to get over on you.pf course there is so much I could type about the situation (such a absolutely no orientation). Just beachy nurse works at a similar institution.

I have a slightly different take on this situation. The clinic nurse can have a central role in advocating for complex patients and some physicians can do great follow through and others drop the ball. The most annoying is the provider who is always late to clinic, and after arriving has terrible time management skills and each day ends well past scheduled time.

These chronically late providers are also usually "unable" to function without a nurse to keep the ball rolling. Our facility has fortunately clarified that nurses are not expected to stay late for these chronically disorganized providers. Overtime is paid only when a true patient emergency exists.

The person who pays the price is the patient who may not get the benefit of patient teaching or care coordination.

The doctor is capable of handling the patient, in an out patient setting is different. We as nurses feel our job isn't done until the patient goes home. But in reality the job is done once they see the md. I would go home.

Gardenwalla is talking reality- the real world. And I was never told this in the interview (the interviewing manager didn't even know this Dr stays over 3 times a week), why deal with it?

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Gardenwalla is talking reality- the real world. And I was never told this in the interview (the interviewing manager didn't even know this Dr stays over 3 times a week), why deal with it?

Gardenwalla is talking reality, and it brought to my mind a certain provider who had the worst time-management skills I've ever seen. His very loyal patients accepted the 1-2 hour wait times, but everyone else not so much :/

It sounds like the evening hours are a regular occurrence, and that was not disclosed at the time you interviewed, to me a separate issue, the "bait and switch", or maybe a case of the interviewer not being well-informed enough to represent the job accurately.

What you may do about that depends on the benefit side of the equation with a clinic job vs an inpatient unit.

I wanted to add that fears of a scheduled follow-up for a chronic problem being forgotten and left alone in the building, and a patient who underwent an outpatient surgical procedure who was left alone and reported it are not only conjectural.

Anyway, hope you can get it all ironed out.

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