fergsu22

The doctor at the facility acts as the PCP, so still I don't have anyone to call, and in Canada it is 911.

agreed

Of course they have a doctor, but the doctor only comes once a week and if it is not urgent, I usually leave a note for the doctor to assess them when they come in. Sorry what does PCP stand for? And the doctor is not on call, so if somethings happens it is often based solely on my judgement. (which can be a lot of pressure) The only person I can call for advice (which doesn't mean they can order me to re insert the catheter, or order medications) is my boss who is a nurse as well, and they often don't answer the phone.

I think the loop hole for LTC although is that is says RNs and Physicians must provide on-call coverage, it does not say however that a physician has to be on call as opposed to and RN. At night in LTC where I work an RN is always on call, but the physician is only on call during the day

Retirement homes in ontario are licensed under the Retirement homes act, they are separate and are not funded by the government. So it is licensed just not under and LTC regulations.

This is for long term care, I work in retirement which is separate in Ontario. Although I do have another job in LTC and at night there is no on call physician so there must be some kind of loop hole.

The balloon was actually sitting in their urethra so they had almost pulled it completely out. I deflated it to try prevent further damage. I didn't pull it out cause I was worried I would make it worse, but it didn't fall out after on its own. There was no output overnight either and it was the morning at this point, so I was certain the catheter wasn't in.

welcome to free health care lol, it's a money saver, the province is in debt

I don't know where you're finding that source of information, but from living here my whole life, I have learned that isn't true, it is also not illegal in ontario to hire one nurse for hundreds of patients, I have over one hundred at night and there is no law on the ratio of one nurse to multiple patients.

Hey JKL33, there is no doctor on call. I don't know the regulations for retirement where you're from, but I'm in Ontario and health care here at the moment is very corrupt. It is not illegal to have a retirement home without an on call doctor, and I actually have never heard of a retirement home with one. I don't think it should be that way but believe me I have asked and its not an option, its a money saver unfortunately. Thanks for responding though! I feel better with my decision now.

The physician only comes once a week on the day shift. I do have a boss that is supposed to be on call 24/7 but they didn't answer the phone. I am the only nurse for the building at night and I'm also a new nurse which is tough cause I often rely on nurses with more experience in situations like this. So if I'm not sure I have to send to the hospital but sometimes it feels like a waste of services.

I was working overnight in a retirement home and it was reported to me that a patient had pulled out their catheter. When I went to assess them I noted that they had no output in the catheter bag and their urethra was bleeding. I drained the balloon to help relieve pressure, but I didn't take the catheter out because I was scared of causing more damage. I wanted to reinsert a new catheter but I wasn't sure if I was going to cause harm to the patient, so I decided to send them to the hospital. Please help, I'm not sure if I made the right choice, I know it's better that I was overly cautious by sending them, but I never like to send people to the hospital unless it is absolutely necessary. I didn't feel comfortable reinserting it but I had to do something. Did I make the right choice?!