New grad upgrading her skills by working on scenarios--need your help

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In a Nursing home

What if in the middle of doing the lab requisitions and processing Dr's orders, a family member comes to me and stating: "my mom has a bruise on her arm and I want to know where it came from."

What I have to do with this family member? What I have to say to them? Is this a serious concern? What paper work needs to be completed? Basically how to handle this situation?

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Specializes in LTC/Behavioral/ Hospice.
In a Nursing home

What if in the middle of doing the lab requisitions and processing Dr’s orders, a family member comes to me and stating: "my mom has a bruise on her arm and I want to know where it came from."

What I have to do with this family member? What I have to say to them? Is this a serious concern? What paper work needs to be completed? Basically how to handle this situation?

What do you think you should do? I'd be glad to help you, but I'd like your input first. :)

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

what does the nursing process say you will do?

what does Maslow's heirarchy recommend?

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Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.

Forget about being a nurse for a minute. If you were the family member, what would You like the nurse to do? See how easy this is.

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HMM...My first step... will go and assess the resident, severity of the bruise, perfom range of motion to check for stabilty, tendrness and movement, wil try to find out how, when and what incident had happened.

fill out the incident report if incdent occur in my shift.:icon_roll

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Specializes in LTC/Behavioral/ Hospice.
HMM...My first step... will go and assess the resident, severity of the bruise, perfom range of motion to check for stabilty, tendrness and movement, wil try to find out how, when and what incident had happened.

fill out the incident report if incdent occur in my shift.:icon_roll

You might want to check her medications for blood thinners, and her chart for any recent falls, run ins with wheelchairs or tables, etc. Also, keep the family in the loop (if they have the right to know.) I don't think you have to go into the specifics of the investigation with them, but you need to let them know that mom is ok, you want to know what happened and are attempting to find out, and that the doctor will be notified in case he'd like to do something different with her care. Make sure your unit manager or DON is aware that the family noticed and is concerned about the bruise. You can give them your incident report and they can deal with follow up with family if the family continues to have concerns.

Oh, and where I work, if the bruise is discovered on your shift, you are the lucky one who gets to fill out the incident report, even if you are pretty sure that the bruise was obtained on another shift. :)

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So much to know! And for a simple bruise. Nurses need to paid more.

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