Medical patients on post-partum floor?

BarbPick · Feb 16, 2004

No one wants to listen when an older nurse tells all to do a full year of med surg. I will sit back and see Mother / baby nurses irrigate a post op TURP, have to de gunk G tubes, give pateints go lightly, Drop Ng's, Decubitus care, have a Lumbar CSF fluid cath and make sure it doesn't drain more than 10 cc per hour. All sort of diabetes patients with amputations.

Your Nurse Manager is right. Every bed is to be filled with what ever is assigned to the room.

Can't flame me on this here is a PP Nurse who sees the future is now.

I have a question, are there any other hospitals that are sending medical patients up to post partum? We have brand new baby's down the same hall as an MRSA pt and we've had cocaine addicted pt's high on crack at the time down our peds hall. My nurse manager has told us that this is the way of the future, there aren't going to be specialized areas any more, if we have room, we're going to get whatever they send us. One of the newer nurses to the floor asked the NM if she could have a little more extensive orientation if she was to get med/surg pts and the NM told her that her RN degree covers all areas of nursing:angryfire so she should be able to handle ALL areas of nursing. YOU KNOW, JUST LIKE THE MD'S DON'T SPECIALIZE..........

NeuroICURN · Feb 16, 2004

Well, I have to say that I agree and disagree with MedSurg patients on a postpartum floor.

I agree because yes, your RN license does cover you for ALL types of patients (whether we remember how to take care of them or not). And, like it or not, we all have to face the reality that our hospitals are becoming over-crowded and with a nursing shortage, we have to take care of whoever comes our way! I work in a neuro ICU, but I also have to take MICU, TSICU, CVICU, etc. patients if the other 6 ICUs can't handle their pts. Now even though I hate having MICU pts, I HAVE to do it. Why? Because as an RN, I'm qualified to take care of ALL types of pts.

Now, on the other side of the coin... I think that your patient placement personnel should be more careful about the patient population that they place on a post partum floor. Patients with MRSA, C-Diff, etc, IMHO, should not be anywhere near a newborn and it's lack of an immune system!! Also, potentially violent people should not be near these fragile little ones! But I don't see the problem with a little old lady with a broken leg!

Now, do you feel that you may potentially not be able to provide safe care to a patient for some reason? Then you need to file a complaint, notify the appropriate people and DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!!! Also, if you have a question, then can you call an RN on a floor that would know the answer? I've called another ICU's RN and they have called us with questions and we try to help each other out, when the need arises.

Good luck and take care!

fiestynurse · Feb 16, 2004

This is not the wave of the future! In fact, nursing is becoming more and more specialized. The old saying that "a nurse is a nurse" is outdated.

Plus, this hospital is exposing newborn babies to infectious diseases that they are not capable of fighting off.

BarbPick · Feb 16, 2004

Well, I have to say that I agree and disagree with MedSurg patients on a postpartum floor.
I agree because yes, your RN license does cover you for ALL types of patients (whether we remember how to take care of them or not). And, like it or not, we all have to face the reality that our hospitals are becoming over-crowded and with a nursing shortage, we have to take care of whoever comes our way! I work in a neuro ICU, but I also have to take MICU, TSICU, CVICU, etc. patients if the other 6 ICUs can't handle their pts. Now even though I hate having MICU pts, I HAVE to do it. Why? Because as an RN, I'm qualified to take care of ALL types of pts.
Now, on the other side of the coin... I think that your patient placement personnel should be more careful about the patient population that they place on a post partum floor. Patients with MRSA, C-Diff, etc, IMHO, should not be anywhere near a newborn and it's lack of an immune system!! Also, potentially violent people should not be near these fragile little ones! But I don't see the problem with a little old lady with a broken leg!
Now, do you feel that you may potentially not be able to provide safe care to a patient for some reason? Then you need to file a complaint, notify the appropriate people and DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!!! Also, if you have a question, then can you call an RN on a floor that would know the answer? I've called another ICU's RN and they have called us with questions and we try to help each other out, when the need arises.
Good luck and take care!

This is one of the best posts I have ever read. I admire your insight. Putting on my Oncology CNS hat, when I am in the hospital, they have everything but an Oncology majority on the unit. It seems to be a trend to put oncology and Diabetes patients as well as hepatology patients on the heme/Onc floor.

BarbPick · Feb 16, 2004

The american Nurses Association has created an RNc specialization of the "Nurse Generalist." This is the specialist of the future. With the nursing shortage, everyone has to adapt or not work there.

This is not the wave of the future! In fact, nursing is becoming more and more specialized. The old saying that "a nurse is a nurse" is outdated.
Plus, this hospital is exposing newborn babies to infectious diseases that they are not capable of fighting off.

fergus51 · Feb 16, 2004

Nurse generalists are certainly to be admired, but they had a lot of training to get there:) So if a nurse manager hires a nurse without med-surg experience, she should be willing to provide more orientation. She knew what she was getting when she hired the new grad. I have never been expected to be proficient on every unit in the hospital and I think that's only fair. You don't want me working in the ICU or OR without an orientation.

I actually see this less and less. Our units tend to be more and more specialized, and even med-surg has been broken down in many facilities to have a resp. unit, an ortho unit, an onco unit, etc. At the very least, they should be sending you "clean" patients only. And Peds should not have adults on it as far as I am concerned. It is innapropriate to have adults sharing the room with children.

fiestynurse · Feb 16, 2004

This is why we have a nursing shortage - because of the attitude that you must adapt to whatever is thrown at you or get out! Unfortunately, many took that advice and did leave.

nekhismom · Feb 16, 2004

I don't think infected patients should be on the same floor as newborns. Period. You wouldn't put a pt. with TB in the same room with someone who has leukemia, would you?

As for having "clean" patient on the PP floor, ok, fine. I know some places also put GYN pts. on the same floor. Again, fine, because ultimately, PP nurses probably know how to assess for complications following a GYN procedure.

That's just MHO.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2004

Our infectious disease policy does not allow for infected medical patients on the same floor as newborns. Period. We have a womyn's surgical unit, that sometimes takes overflow post-partum. For this reason they won't even take admissions that have an elevated WBC count or a temp., never mind infected with MRSA.

Bad idea.

As a sometimes house supervisor I understand the need to clear the ER during busy times. But common sense and patient safety must come first.

mattsmom81 · Feb 16, 2004

Our postpartum wing is reserved for new moms and 'clean' female cases only. (in a pinch) usually they are gyn postops.

MommyLauraRN · Feb 18, 2004

Our postpartum wing is reserved for new moms and 'clean' female cases only. (in a pinch) usually they are gyn postops.

Ditto here too. Our pp floor will occaisionally be asked to take off service pts such as vag hysts. Sometimes we'll get lap chole's who stay basically because they had a late surgery and will go home in the am...it ends up being mostly a lot of paperwork.