Permanent documentation... "Please advise"?

loriangel14, RN · Nov 23, 2012

I think the note you wrote was fine. It didn't sound stuffy, it sounded professional. Is there no other way to communicate with the MD? In a case like that I would call the doc and ask for further instructions. We have electronic charting but we still have paper charts.

BiohazardBetty · Nov 23, 2012

Unfortunately, unless we catch them on the floor or page them, there's no other way to make sure they get the message... Since the pt flat out refused to have the catheter removed, I didn't feel it was important enough to page the Dr at home... But I'm a new nurse & that might have not been the best choice... Would you have paged the doctor in this case?

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2012

You had an order to remove the Foley and the patient refused....why wouldn't that get a note in the chart regardless of the type of charting system you use?

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2012

If the order is in the chart and it is not done, then you need to document why? Also you would need to page the dr and explain why it was not done so you can confirm the dr knew, and you can document this also.

Yes you should have paged the Dr, always try to let them know verbally if something is not carried out! Then you need to document that you contacted the Dr or at least attempted to and the time you called.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2012

I have always used electronic documentation in some form, although our nursing notes did use to be on paper when I first worked in the hospital. In the situation you describe, I would simply text page the MD and say "FYI, Mr. Smith refuses to have his foley removed." I would not write an event note requesting advice from the MD because I know that the MD would never read it... at least not at my former hospital. The only people who read nurses' notes were nurses. Though I would have included in my nursing note something like "order received to d/c foley cath, pt refuses, MD aware."

I don't understand why having nursing notes on the computer makes it so complicated to communicate with the MD though. You can call, email or speak to them when they come to the unit, can't you?

JZ_RN · Nov 23, 2012

Your note sounds a lot like my charting. You gave the information and the situation so you did fine. The other nurse needs to get over it.

BiohazardBetty · Nov 23, 2012

I alway appreciate the excellent responses I get from everyone here! Thank you!! I'm not exactly asking whats the best way to contact an MD, since i'd imagine all of our facilities are different... I'm mostly asking the appropriate language to use when the documentation will be permanent. A texting system to communicate with doctors would be wonderful, but we don't have that. We also don't use email to communicate with them (as floor nurses at least)... The note I entered wasn't a "nursing note." It's an event note that is specifically used to communicate info to others about the pt. We can assign a co-signer option so that the note automatically pops up the next time whoever you assign as a co-signer logs into the system. I also charted the incident appropriately in my nursing notes, but like other posters have said, the doctor would never read that.

I understand that several of you think the doctor should be paged ASAP to be notified if a pt refuses a catheter removal, & if it hasn't been 7pm on thanksgiving night I might have paged him, but I really didn't think anything could be done immediately to fix the problem... Was the situation more emergent than that? There were no s/s of infection, catheter was patent, surrounding skin was intact, oncoming nurse notified... Just short of the doctor telling me to force the man to let me remove it (which clearly wouldn't happen), what could be done? I'm usually calling the doctor saying pts are begging to have their foleys taken out!

mariebailey, MSN, RN · Nov 23, 2012

In my prior places of employment, we did not have secure email, and those emails were considered public property subject to the "Freedom of Information Act". It was just understood that what we communicated via email was to be much more formal and objective than what may transpire in person b/c we had a potential audience. I wouldn't worry about being "stuffy".

I can see what the other posters are saying; if it is an urgent or emergent situation, documenting an attempt to communicate with the doc by another route seems appropriate.

There are some CNEs you can take online on charting; you can view them for free, but you have to pay for credit. The advice in these courses may be commonsensical to you, but I found them helpful only 5 years into nursing:

Document It Right: A Nurse's Guide to Charting | 60076 > Continuing Education Unit at Nurse.com

Every Nurse is a Risk Manager | CE105-60 > Continuing Education Unit at Nurse.com

Document It Right: Would Your Charting Stand Up to Scrutiny? | CE510 > Continuing Education Unit at Nurse.com

nrsang97, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2012

I think the note you wrote was fine. It didn't sound stuffy, it sounded professional. Is there no other way to communicate with the MD? In a case like that I would call the doc and ask for further instructions. We have electronic charting but we still have paper charts.

Exactly

FLmed · Nov 24, 2012

I think the note you wrote was fine. It didn't sound stuffy, it sounded professional. Is there no other way to communicate with the MD? In a case like that I would call the doc and ask for further instructions. We have electronic charting but we still have paper charts.

Agree! You dis great. You have to chart refusal of anything. Now-- not only will the doc know but the next nurse will know why you didn't carry out the removal order. Sometimes-- things don't get said in giving report to the next nurse. You did great, honey!!!

FLmed · Nov 24, 2012

And- the doc would have been livid if you interrupted his Thanksgiving for this. It wasn't important for you to call him or her. You did the right thing. :-). That was something that could wait until the next day.