jamieann.rn

I was a bedside nurse before transferring into the world of case management after the birth of my second child. I used to be so aggravated by ancillary staff using that phrase repeatedly. It gets incredibly frustrating, espeically when I'm gowned in an iso room knee deep in C. Diff-tainted stool. When I moved to case management I made the shift from driving the bus to being a passenger, so to speak. I still enjoy the interactions I have with patients, albeit, short ones. But I learned something that I never knew before: As a CM, I'm NOT ALLOWED to touch patients. As in, I am not allowed or I can be seriously reprimanded (ie: Fired). I'm not covered under the same hospital insurance that used to cover me when I was a floor RN. The reasoning is if I help pull a patient up in bed and injury myself, I'm not covered under the hospital's work comp insurance because that's not in the current scope of my job description. Yes, I'm still and RN and yes I remember how to assess, toilet, etc....but I literally cannot help you. I'll get a blanket or help the patient with the remote, but that's about it. I bet this is the same for RD, SW, etc. Now, of course, if a patient is falling out of bed or putting themselves in danger, I can jump in because patient safety is always more important. But if a patient asks me to help pull them up or walk them to the bathroom....guess what, I call you because I'd rather like to keep my job. Just food for thought.