kms6417

So glad something so simple worked so well for you. We don't have a problem with call ins, tho we have a strict policy against excessive call ins. Greater than 6/yr (running calendar) constitutes a write up for full time staff. These would be unexcused absences, not approved sick leaves. I guess you would have to wonder why staff are calling in so much. Do you have a written policy for excessive call-ins? Our accumulated sick time bank was taken away last year. If you call in, you have to cover those shifts with paid time off-hours from your vacation bank. That could be the deterient we have in place to keep call ins to a minimum. Thanks for your input for helping with our staffing crunch!

Trying to get a feel for other inpatient OB hospital units out there. Is your unit locked? How do you screen visitors? Do your infants wear security devices and if so, how often to to drill for an abduction? Thanks for any insight on how your unit handles security on your floor.

I am a weary staff nurse who blocked those calls a long time ago. Thanks for all of your ideas.

Thank you for all your input. I am a staff nurse who blocked those robocalls long time ago. This staff is weary and I personally worry when something bad will happen to a patient if this continues.

Ha!! Indeed. If we ran that place.....

Apparently they are looking into travelers at this time. Thanks

We are experiencing our typical summer baby boom at work and consequently are extremely short staffed on the large OB unit I work on. Usually a robocall will go out (similar to the one schools use to call off school) to alert staff that extra help is needed. All staff are called at one time. Typically they will first offer on call (time and a half pay) and single bonus (extra $10/hour). If they get no takers, the offer is increased to on call and double bonus (time and a half plus an extra $20/hour). Even though that is a lot of money, staff are tired of coming in extra and coming in and working very short staffed and therefor the response is dwindling. Does anyone have any other unique or innovative staffing incentives for times like these? I appreciate any ideas you may have. Tired in STL

Thanks so much for your response. I have been trying to be a "team player" and really giving it a try. Report does go a little faster with everyone using the same sheet. My own report worksheet kept me organized in MY way, so this new one is taking a lot of getting used to. Basically it's just standing at the patient's wallaroo (pull down outside the room that mom and baby charts are kept in) and exchange the same info we used to do while resting our weary legs from running all day when we gave report at the desk in the sitting position. We then go in and introduce the new nurse to the patient. It's a show for management that I am forced to act in.

What's the difference between exchanging this info "by the door" or at the nurses station where I can rest my weary 58 yr old legs?

What tool do you use to give report from?

0We will be starting bedside report (again) soon on our Mother Baby unit. Presently, we give report at the nurses station and each nurse transcribes this information onto their "own" report worksheet. This sheet is a personalized fill-in the-blank that each nurse carries with them throughout their shift. Soon they want a written kardex type sheet to be started by the unit secretary and updated and recopied to be used as a bedside handoff. They are not suggesting we use the EMR we presently document in. Management no longer wants to see nurses giving report at the nurses station and then going into the room to introduce the new nurse. How do other Mother Baby units handle bedside report? Every nurse organizes themself differently. No one uses the same report worksheet and many will now be recopying to their own sheet after report. How do you handle transfer of sensitive information? Some of our patients don't want their significant other to know they have a history of HSV or a previous pregnancy. Patients are sleeping frequently after being up breast feeding an infant all day or night and may not want this report to awaken them. Our unit has tried this before and it has not worked. I would appreciate any input from other Mother Baby unit or nursing units on how bedside report is handled on your floor. Thanks!

I agree. Our c-section patients receive Duramorph and anesthesia wants IV access x20 hrs. Access does NOT mean running IV fluids.

We will be starting bedside report (again) soon on our Mother Baby unit. Presently, we give report at the nurses station and each nurse transcribes this information onto their "own" report worksheet. This sheet is a personalized fill in the blank that each nurse carries with them throughout their shift. Soon they want a written kardex type sheet to be started by the unit secretary and filled and recopied to be used as a bedside handoff. Management no longer wants to see nurses giving report at the nurses station and then going into the room to introduce the new nurse. How do other Mother Baby units handle bedside report? Every nurse organizes themself differently. No one uses the same report worksheet and many will now be recopying to their own sheet after report. How do you handle transfer of sensitive information? Some of our patients don't want their significant other to know they have a history of HSV or a previous pregnancy. Patients are sleeping frequently after being up breast feeding an infant all day or night and may not want this report to awaken them. Our unit has tried this before and it has not worked. I would appreciate any input from other Mother Baby units on how bedside report is handled on your floor. Thanks!

I asked about delayed newborn baths a few years ago on this forum. I want to ask again because our Mother Baby UNPC group is trying to implement delayed newborn baths. I work on an OB unit that delivers 4000 infants a year. Infants remain w their mothers during their recovery. Presently, baths are given in the labor room the patient is being recovered in. Couplets are then transferred to Mother Baby. The proposed change would be to give newborns their first bath and shampoo at 24 hrs of life. This may sound simple, but implementing it will be quite a challenge to figure out who will give the baths, where to give them and how to warm up newborns after-skin to skin or under an Ohio table. Do other hospitals just wear gloves in handling an unbathed infant? Just wondering what other hospitals do for timing of baths. We have an all RN staff on the mother baby unit. We have 2 nurse techs and 1 RN staffing the nursery. Any help/suggestions on how this is handled in other hospitals. Thank you!

I work at a large nonprofit hospital system in St Louis MO. My present base salary is $40/hr, which is top of scale. I work on Mother Baby Unit. I am an RN with a Diploma degree. I work full time and believe it or not, have worked 35 years for the same employer since I was in nursing school. I work 12 day shift. We are paid a differential for evenings, nights, weekends, holidays, and time and a half for Christmas and Thanksgiving only. I work on a closed unit-meaning we staff ourselves and only get pulled within our floor-to NICU or LD. If we are in need of staff, management makes the decision based on need (staff needed and census based) to pay on call ( which is time and a half), call and bonus ($10/hr, or call double bonus.