Lining and labing in the waiting room

Specialties Emergency

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Does anyone else start care paths and line and lab patients in the waiting room?

It is becoming an increasing concern over the legal aspect for the nurses at the hospital where I work?

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

Wow. Never heard of that. It would make me nervous to do that. Our drug seekers would love to obtain permanent access to their veins and then run out the door before being seen by a doctor.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Yes it's done, and obviously your candidate for doing so is chosen very carefully. What is the legal concern?

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Specializes in ED, Clinical Documentation.

labs sure, but no lines! i'm a traveler and haven't seen PIVs in the waiting room.

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We will draw labs, obtain EKGs, and order peripheral (not core) x-rays while the person waits in the lobby, if the wait is going to be more than an hour.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.
We will draw labs, obtain EKGs, and order peripheral (not core) x-rays while the person waits in the lobby, if the wait is going to be more than an hour.

Same here, but no lines.

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Does anyone else start care paths and line and lab patients in the waiting room?

It is becoming an increasing concern over the legal aspect for the nurses at the hospital where I work?

This is common practice where I work and I love it. It makes it easier to treat patients faster. I feel it also increases pt safety as results are known faster. We even give medications in the waiting room.

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Specializes in ED.

Labs are routine, but if the triage nurse places a line, they wait in the sub-waiting room and are getting a bed assignment pretty fast.

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At my ED we start lines and medicate frequently in the triage/waiting room. Especially N/V/D patients, a little zofran and a liter of fluids hung on the wheelchair, and back to the waiting room! Anyone that is medicated with a narcotic is places very close to the triage nurse/nurses. Then, when a room is ready, their labs are back and the first time they are seen by MD, there is a plan of care initiated.

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Specializes in ER.
Does anyone else start care paths and line and lab patients in the waiting room?

It is becoming an increasing concern over the legal aspect for the nurses at the hospital where I work?

In niether of the facilities I have worked at are we allowed to line patients in the waiting room. If we lined them, they wait in a sub waiting area. Otherwise, they have labs drawn and EKGs/radiology completed while they wait.

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Specializes in ER.

I've put a saline lock in at the same time I've drawn the labs, but on people that were really too sick to think of leaving. Definitely drawn labs in triage, but it causes such a roadblock if the triages back up, I'm not free to do a draw, and the lab takes 10 minutes to answer a page. Still working out the logistics.

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Specializes in ED.
At my ED we start lines and medicate frequently in the triage/waiting room. Especially N/V/D patients, a little zofran and a liter of fluids hung on the wheelchair, and back to the waiting room! Anyone that is medicated with a narcotic is places very close to the triage nurse/nurses. Then, when a room is ready, their labs are back and the first time they are seen by MD, there is a plan of care initiated.

That sounds dangerous to me.

How can y'all give meds w/o the pt seeing the MD? It sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Besides, what incentive does the pt have to actually STAY if they know they can come in, c/o of N/V or whatever, get morphine and zofran or whatever?

We do not start IVs in my ER because every IV drug user would come in for their "free port" and leave.

We do stick with a butterfly for labs and will often get an xray for what appears to be a simple r/o fracture or whatever.

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