Maybe a silly question

[ysabel327]

I'm kinda confused as to the information we can relay our patients. For instance if a urine culture comes back and is obvious to have an e. coli infection can we tell the patient "you have a uti" before the doctor announces it himself?

As a brand new grad I'm a bit confused as to the information we can relay to our patients without going outside the scope of our practice.

THanks

[Mommy TeleRN, RN]

Actually I JUST talked to my preceptor about this this morning. She said she only tells lab results ie "your potassium was below normal, so we are giving you this potassium pill" if pt asks why lab is low she will give general ideas "well some typical causes are diuretics. You are taking lasix and low potassium is a side effect so that is one possible cause" (that is just an example)

She does NOT discuss the results of any other tests. For instance this one pt that prompted the question had some kind of neuro test (was her pt so I don't know details) family had waited all evening for neurologist to tell them. He never came in. The report came back but she said that is outside her scope to tell them the results. Now I suppose we could further educate the pt AFTER the fact. For instance one doctor says they have a UTI we could say "Ms Jones we are starting this antibiotic because the doctor ran a test that showed you have some bacteria in your urine" Or if they got results of a test and wanted more info we could educate ie a new disease process.

But no I do not think I would look at a UA result and "diagnose" a UTI. Outside our scope IMO :)

[MoopleRN]

Check the policy at your facility to answer your question. OR~

maybe you could tell your patient that it "appears" they have an "infection" related to their urinary system and they should direct any further concerns re their diagnosis to their doctor.

Nurses do not medically diagnose. There are ways, however, to educate the patient/relay info before the doctor can do so. Looking at lab values/cultures may tell the nursing staff what a potential diagnosis is but until the physician confirms it/writes orders, we nurses can only treat the symptoms within our scope.

[OncologyRN07]

our doc's keep patients informed of their labs in the AM rounds. The nurse assigned to the room and the clinicians are there as well. So, me as the nurse hears the doc tell what the test are and when I hang an ATB or what ever, I just reinterate to them of what the doc had told them in the AM rounds.

[AdelaideChic]

My opinion on this...

If you are giving a pill for a UTI, then the Dr has already made that diagnosis and prescribed something as such, in which case, the Dr should have diagnosed and discussed with pt.

In such case, i would speak the same as MoopleRN. If the pt is not informed, then paging the MO (intern) may be neccessary.

This can be hard in some environments, such as when waking sedated patients, and giving the meds that have been ordered while they were sedated... but the pt has a right to information, and if they want it, we should make it available, not by overstepping our scope, but by ensuring the Dr fulfills that need.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I just finished a research paper and research has shown the lack of information is a great source of stress to patients and their family members.

I usually say things like "I can give you the results, but I can't diagnose and tell you what the plan is going to be." Having this bit of information might be comforting to them. Also, I might offer my experience and say "the doc might do a, b, or c".

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

just like to add, There is no such thing as a silly question, I would always encourage asking questions no matter how silly it sounds, you have thought of it therefore means something to you so must be answered