jbowers

I have had those same thought many times over my nursing tenure of 37 years. I did hang up on a doctor one time. I was furious the way he talked to me...really put me down for calling him and for bothering him...he was on call. I rarely call MD's...only out of dire necessity.

Hi Have any of you noticed that patients are lacking education on anticoagulation? Is academia not teaching anticoagulation to nurses, expecially in the ADN programs? Does your hospital have a pharmacists do patient teaching on Warfarin/Coumadin or does the nurse do the teaching in your institution? Are your pharmacists consistent with the consulting or is it a hit and miss situation? How concerned are you regarding patient safety with those patients on anticoagulation therapy (AT) after discharge? I have just noticed this problem is ongoing and trying to figure out if this is a common problem in other hospitals in the US (and UK) or if this dysfunction is present within my health care area. I have worked in an anticoagulation clinic for several years and it is so disheartening that patients are not getting the education they need prior to hospital discharge and when we see them at the clinic. We have over 1000 Coumadin patients and scheduling these patients gets tight. This interim period of 2-4 days can be critical in patient care and safety. I just believe if patients had more education before leaving the hospital they would be safer at home until followed up at the clinic. Thanks for sharing your thoughts

Hi Have any of you noticed that patients are lacking education on anticoagulation? Is academia not teaching anticoaguation to nurses, expecially in the ADN programs? Does your hospital have a pharmacists do patient teaching on Warfarin/Coumadin or does the nurse do the teaching in your institution? How concerned are you regarding patient safety with those on anticoagulation therapy (AT)? I have just noticed this problem is ongoing and trying to figure out if this is a common problem or if it is only in my area? Thanks for answering