On our Med/Surg floor it is normal to have 7-9 patients (yeah crazy), but whatever. So let's say you have eight patients...it's you and a nurse RIGHT out of orientation on the floor. You have no tech, you have no secretary. Your have many a nursing home patients that have to be turned, changed, ect. You are basically having to help the new nurse with all of her duties, ect. You have a patient's vital signs that are acutely changing for the worse. ER calls and is trying to send you a 9th patient. There is literally no way you can take the patient at the moment. You tell ER they will have to call back in an hour or so until you get a chance to settle down. Well ER calls the house supervisor. The house supervisor comes up and tells you to take the patient or he will take your badge, you will go home, and you will not work at the hospital anymore.
A) You take the patient knowing that you are never going to be able to do an assessment in an hour, your 10pm meds are now over 4 hours late. You haven't even begun to think of taking your 12am vital signs and everyone else is needing pain meds, nausea meds, dressing changes, colosotomy changes, ect.
B.) You don't take the patient. The H.S. takes your badge and makes you leave the hospital. Is this considered patient abadonment if you are forced to leave?
It was a bad night, I ended up taking the 9th patient (pancreatitis with pain meds q 2 hours...). I was 1120am leaving that morning, and THAT was pushing some of my work off on the day shift (which I refuse to do under normal circumstances because I don't like it being done to me.). So what would you have done?
