cookienay

Do you seriously need an order in LTC to call 911? Any reasonable layperson should have been able to recognize that the resident was suffering an acute medical emergency. So a trained, licensed nurse does not have the authority to do the same? What i...

Accrual of PTO is based upon hours worked and years of service. More time with the hospital means you accrue at a higher rate. I find it to be very generous. We are allowed 4 occurences of absence in a rolling 12 month period, on a no fault basis (m...

Refer to Occupational Medicine if available (family MD if not). They can determine if someone is fit for their particular job duties.That is not ED issue.

THis is slightly off topic, but your management's reasons for starting this practice are puzzling. Bedside reporting is actually a component of Joint Commission's NPSG to increase effective communication between caregivers. (As was the read back and ...

That happened to me once and I was scared to death. Turns out it was a local reaction and was gone by the time the 48 hour read time came up. Try not to worry until you have to!! If your employer won't foot the bill for the cxry if one is needed, cal...

I am all for a certain level of customer service. For starters, people most likely will not sue someone that they like. Secondly, it makes my job easier. To go above my patient's expectations is something that actually alters their perception of the ...

Esme- good info. Would it still be considered EMTALA if they were under the care of the admitting inpatient physician and not the ED physician? They were just geographically in the ED area? This is where I was coming from in my initial response of it...

This is not an EMTALA violation per se that I am aware of. Ideally, these patients should be moved to a different facility that has the staff and space to properly care for them. There is increasing evidence to support what we have always known: outc...

I have no idea what you all are talking about. I sit around all day painting my nails and eating bon-bons. Being a nurse is waaaaaay easy. *insert sarcasm and eye rolling here*

This thread made me laugh out loud. I know I have taken care of each one of these fruitcakes at least once in my career.

I find it ridiculous that a fellow nurse would say it was "your fault" because a pt became septic. Complications happen. While there are things we can do to prevent sepsis I find nothing in your post to indicate that you caused the sepsis. Sounds lik...

"Now, I know you can't tell me anything because of confidentiality and all that, but what was was wrong with him?" That is my favorite. You can bet the clerks hear about it when I get that phone call. I tell them "The patient has a phone in their r...

Love the call ahead advice! Umm, this is not Chili's. We do not do call ahead seating.

Hello Nurses! This is my first foray into the school nursing forum and I have a question that has more than likely been asked before. I plan to apply for a school nurse opening next school year for a small rural school in Ohio. I have a BSN and 18 y...

Thank you all for the information! Supernrse, so it is a licensure and not a certification, correct? who licenses you as a school nurse? Is it the state BON? Or is it a professional organization? I guess I better get started on this coursework! Thank...

Sitcom- As an ED nurse please allow me to say thank you for the above information. We completely let these things slide and it SHOULD NOT BE SO. Seeing the visit from the perspective of the elderly LTC patient has been beneficial to me and I will sha...

While I am sure that Ebony means well, taking the route she suggests may be against your hospital P&P. I know my facility's policy strictly prohibits you approaching the person directly. THat is why you have managers/supervisors. If you are a vol...

Apparently it is you. Every last one of our patients is always legitimately experiencing an emergency, is well versed in their medical history and medications, and never ever give us sarcastic answers. Furthermore, they are all extrememly understandi...

Yes, my facility does have a policy regarding this. And yes we have had to use it. It basically goes something like this. Attempt to contact for x number of times or x number of minutes. If an emergency, call the Rapid Assess team (which has an inten...

To not be given a vacation in two years seems a bit excessive. Do you not earn PTO at this facility? How are you expected to use it if you are never given vacation time or days off? My department has 140 employees and EVERY part time and full time em...

I can tell you one thing not to do. That is call 911. What are the medics going to do? Put them on a stretcher and take them 2 floors down to the ED? Plus, EMS may want to take them to another facility and that would be a big no-no for you. Actually,...

Big woo! No pillows. I don't remember that being a standard of care. Sometimes rooms aren't spotless. Should they be? yes, but alas reality prevails. Our society has been deceived! We believe we should never have to wait, never experience anxiety or...

Healthstar- many athletes know their resting HR and their target HR. They can tell you if their HR is too high or low. Also, a good way to know is to look at them. Are they symptomatic with this low HR? While there is not a different "scale" for them...

We have 4:1 ratio in our 45 bed ER (with a 10 bed overflow area that we open PRN). While not a trauma center, we are a regionally recognized center for cardiac care and the busiest ER in our state (as far as volume goes). To me 4:1 with techs AND med...

Ditto to what the other posters replied. You know how to do this. You can't teach someone something if they already know it, anyway. *rolling eyes* Ahhhh, I remember the "special person pass". I tried to get one once, but it did not work out too well...