when must I respond by when a patient calls.

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A pt called me describing leg pain from a bump from 5 days ago, also on Coumadin. I was not able to see the pt same day. Pt denied s/s of any PE or internal bleeding. I informed pt to call her Dr, and to call 911 of any s/s of PE . Pt will wait to see me next day. Am I responsible to see pt within a few hours? Or within 24hr?

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Specializes in Pedi.

What is your agency's policy? We don't do "on-call" visits in my agency. If the patient calls with a serious issue, we tell them to go the ER. Document that you spoke with her and recommended she contact her doctor.

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Specializes in Home Health.

I agree with KelRN

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Specializes in Pulmonary, Lung Transplant, Med/Surg.

I second that. Especially the documenting. I've had too many times where I or the MD office instruct a patient to go to the ER and they refuse to do so, charting that has saved me.

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Always thanks to all who reply.

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from my understanding, when a patient calls with a problem that can be potentially significant, but does not require emergency medical treatment, ideally the patient should receive a prn visit for assessment and report the findings to the md. but this is not always feasible. and I dont think there is a rule that the patient must be seen on the same day, but at the very minimum, the nurse should notify the md of the patients symptoms as soon as possible.

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