Med Changeover Night - a vent!

[banditrn]

I was scheduled to do that last nite - with no orientation to it. I expressed my concern to the DON, and she told me it was 'no big deal'.

Yes, it was a 'big deal' if you've never done it there before!! Geez, they have those bubble packs, they change them once a month - it was a total mess.

They are supposed to be banded per patient, and they were - mostly, but then I'd find meds for patients that went to the other side of the building in my meds - a lot of my meds were missing. They had to be put in order that they appeared on the MAR. It took me 5 1/2 hours just to do that for 40+ residents. Thank God the evening nurse stayed over for awhile to get me started!

And then trying to shove those bubble packs back into the slots where they belonged was a challenge - the backs of my hands are all scratched up.

I kept looking at the CNA's, wishing one of them would do it, so I could go out and see a resident!! I need a hug.

[incublissRN, BSN, RN]

(((((banditrn))))) :icon_hug:

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

I hate changeover and when I was on nights it was all on me. Pfffft. MAr, treatment records, and no one really explaining what got reconciled against what.

Oy.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

sorry, but i'm just not getting a picture of this. the places i worked all had the residents medications in boxes that had individually packaged doses (a month supply) in them. we just reordered medications as they ran low, so we had restock meds coming in almost every day from the pharmacy. our "changeover" night was the 1st of each month when the new mars and tars went into the notebooks for each medication cart.

i can tell you that when i worked some agency work that used bubble packs that one way to easily slide those suckers in and out is to get two pieces of heavy poster board, put them together and slide them in to where you want your bubble pack card to go and then push your bubble pack card down between the two pieces of poster board. then, just remove the poster board guides. keep the poster board on your own clipboard or they will disappear when you need them--murphy's law.

[Simplepleasures]

Yeah, and if there would have been an emergency, then what? Ugh, I can truly say I dont miss working in LTC anymore.

[gitterbug]

(hugs). Been there, done it and will probably be there again soon. Hope you get some R/R.