Medical patients on post-partum floor?

BuffaloLPN · Mar 9, 2004

The problem with overflow pts is not MRSA, VRE etc. Not every pt on the med/surg floor is MRSA + either, and we have CF, immunosuppresed right in the next room anyway. There is no unit only for the contagious.

I just don't like the idea of having PP/OB and med/surg mixed. I am peds med/surg and I FREAK if we get a pregnant whatever. I don't know enough about birthin babies or complications to be comfortable taking care of them. Heck, I work on the adolescent floor because I don't feel comfortable taking care of sick babies, so I also get nervous about taking a 5 mo old as admit. Some tell me that nursing is nursing, but I disagree. Yes, they all have the same kind of vitals, and we all know CPR, ABC but it's not enough. Remember the phrase "don't use it and you lose it"? I can't even remember what a fundus is-it's been too many years. :imbar Are we really expected to know EVERYTHING? Nobody else does, why should we?

Thought... we can't float into OB/GYN or critical care, how should we take care of their pts, just because they are put on our unit?

nekhismom · Mar 9, 2004

I totally agree with most of you! MRSA, VRE, etc. SHOULD NOT BE ON A PP FLOOR! Now, ante-partum I see the need for specialized nursing knowledge of OB, and isolation along with proper handwasing can prevent the spread of these organisms. But why take "whatever walks in the door" just because there are BEDS???? :eek: Yes, by all means, PLEASE, dear nurse manger, let us INCREASE our fragile newborn's chance of becoming infected by these nasty organisms just because we have beds. BY all means!!! I mean, if it was your kid, dear nurse manager, I'm sure you would have NO PROBLEM at all with a nice MRSA+, VRE+ sharing your room with you and baby. Or if not the room, at least the nurse.

:angryfire:

kimmicoobug · Mar 9, 2004

Oh Jeez!!! Our OB department refuses pts all the time!!! And honestly, I don't feel that they should get med-surg if at all possible. But they do get mastectomies, and they do get gyn surgeries (routine patients for this dept). So, you should just hear them when there are no beds available on med-surg and a lap chole (that will be going home in 3 hours anyways) is sent their way. And this unit does not keep infected patients, moms or gyns are sent to ICU as med overflow or to the floor, the director and house supervisors are VERY good about that, thank God.

phyrenrain · Mar 10, 2004

I don't know about "way of the future," but our facility has recently changed from "faith based" to "for profit." Needless to say, we are seeing the same thing: med/surg pts. on the PP floor--anything to fill the beds:angryfire . I am not a PP nurse, but the stress can be felt all the way through the facility. Yes, we have training in other areas, but when your experience is in one area and admin wants to fill the beds with pts from another "specialty".....Bottomline, it's YOUR license, if you don't feel comfortable, you have 2 choices, request more "orientation," or move on and protect the license you worked so very hard for.

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..........

Darchild77 · Mar 10, 2004

The funny thing is that right in our hospital policy, it says that "all med-surg overflow will be sent out". That has never happened! Little while ago we had an ETOHer who was homeless and had HEp C next door to a 4yo girl who's mother wasn't staying with her-I did not agree with this placement at all.:angryfire

tiliimnrn · Mar 11, 2004

The funny thing is that right in our hospital policy, it says that "all med-surg overflow will be sent out". That has never happened! Little while ago we had an ETOHer who was homeless and had HEp C next door to a 4yo girl who's mother wasn't staying with her-I did not agree with this placement at all.:angryfire

Darchild77 I'm from Minnesota also:uhoh21: is it just in cities here that this is going on? Also, I work for Allina, do you? Please write to me privately if you don't want to answer here.

SmilingBluEyes · Mar 12, 2004

*scratching allina off the list of potential employer if/when i move to wisconsin/minn*

i disagree vehemently with sending grossly infected patients to pp....and ETOH'ers...whatnot..what about SECURITY????

your manager is bucking for approval from on-high. scary. and downright dangerous.

i have NO issues with clean surgical patients going to ob/gyn. that makes great sense to me. and i have done it. It is doable....but "anything that rolls, crawls or is rolled in"--- :angryfire nope.

rck213 · Mar 21, 2004

Check your state Dept of Health regulations

In New York State you cannot have any patient with cancer or any infection, any diagnosis of "itis", on a Maternity floor.

If the hospital has a dedicated Pediatric unit no patient under 14 can be put in the room with a patient older than 18 unless there is permission from both the patient's pediatrician and the patient's parents.

suzanne4, RN · Mar 22, 2004

I only remember putting patients that had a DVT, on bedrest, and continuous heparin drip on post-partum. Or similar diagnosis. No temps, no signs of infection, etc. And definitely nothing contagious to mom or baby.

Darchild77 · Mar 22, 2004

I only remember putting patients that had a DVT, on bedrest, and continuous heparin drip on post-partum. Or similar diagnosis. No temps, no signs of infection, etc. And definitely nothing contagious to mom or baby.

Wow, in our small town hospital, we all but lose our med-surg skills associated with G-tubes,heart probs and etc... I have on occasion told the other nurses that I'm uncomfortable taking a pt as you mentioned above. Usually, one of the other nurse will take them, but I feel even this isn't right because the last time anyone had a patient taking Labatolol or a Pt with DVT on our unit was years ago. It just seems that they are jeopordizing their license to me. Nobody on our unit would have the first clue as to hoe to use a heparin drip!!! of course nobody else in our hospital knows what to do for pp hemorhage.

tiliimnrn · Mar 23, 2004

Yes, we've had pt's that needed labaetolol every 1/2 hr and they refused to transfer the pt off of our floor. I used to work on a med/surg floor and a tele-stepdown unit. I transferred off for a reason.....I used to be the NG Queen, everyone would come to me to place them, but this last month we had a pt. who needed an NG placed and I tried 3 times (couldn't get it in) What made me feel a little better was that the CCRN and the Queen from my previous floor couldn't get it in either...she ended up going down to xray to have it placed.

ANYWAY...We have had many different diagnoses on the floor, and I'm so afraid that nobodies listening. I know nobody is listening...cuz Allina doesn't care. :crying2:

MishlB · Mar 23, 2004

It all boils down to $$..an empty bed is empty income. Our postpartum floor takes anything from lap/chole to rule out TIA. If a woman is also pregant, it doesn't matter what she has, they all come to postpartum...seems everyone else is afraid of a pregnant woman.