New nurse question?

[Lovethenurse2b25, ASN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

Hello everyone,

The topic came at work so i asking for everyones opinion...

I know the tradition way to contact a doctor is through the telephone. Now many nurses and doctors contact each other via text. How can you contact the doctor via text without it being a HIPAA violation please give some examples or scenarios ?
What if the doctor loses his/her phone and someone else gain access to that information?

Also what advice would you give to a new nurse on how to feel more comfortable talking to the doctor? Many of them are intimidating.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

Way back when I was told it would decrease fear of doctors to think of them in their underwear. Or farting. It worked. ?

I agree about your phone concerns. Sometimes "modern" is not good. What does your boss say? What's the facility policy on this?

[brownbook]

Talking to a doctor...on the phone (vs in person?).

Nothing wrong with running your concern by a charge nurse or fellow nurse. They may have dealt with similar issues, have some ideas.

Have the patient's chart in front of you.

A lot depends on what your concern, question, is about.

But generally speaking.

Assume the doctor won't remember a lot about the patient. Give your name the patient's full name, when they were admitted, reason for admit, etc.,.

Have recent vitals.

Have the patient's regular medications and any allergies in front of you.

If calling for a different medication some doctors will say something along the lines of "what do you want to give them". So knowing what other anti-emetics, pain medications, sedatives, etc., you have in stock is a big help. They may order something only for you to find out you don't stock that drug.

[Lovethenurse2b25, ASN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

47 minutes ago, brownbook said:

Talking to a doctor...on the phone (vs in person?).

Nothing wrong with running your concern by a charge nurse or fellow nurse. They may have dealt with similar issues, have some ideas.

Have the patient's chart in front of you.

A lot depends on what your concern, question, is about.

But generally speaking.

Assume the doctor won't remember a lot about the patient. Give your name the patient's full name, when they were admitted, reason for admit, etc.,.

Have recent vitals.

Have the patient's regular medications and any allergies in front of you.

If calling for a different medication some doctors will say something along the lines of "what do you want to give them". So knowing what other anti-emetics, pain medications, sedatives, etc., you have in stock is a big help. They may order something only for you to find out you don't stock that drug.

Well said. Thanks for sharing! I’ll make a list for myself for future reference.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

we have a text page system at my facility. It allows us to send them a message with a priority. We can page them to a phone, but if it not an emergency, if I page and say that I need an order changed or an FYI page, they can call back at their convenience or just put in the order.

Working on a surgical floor, it is helpful because I wouldn't want to call the doctor out of surgery because I need a prn laxative order ?

Some nurses have a relationship with providers where they will text but that is not policy. iPhones do have the capability to be encrypted and some doctors and mid levels use a phone to take pics of wounds and then put them in charts. It's kind of complicated