bonjon

While the doctor is assessing the status of the fetus, the nurses can be checking on blood availability. If the staff is on the same page, more than 1 thing can be done @ a time.

hoolahan, Good to hear from you. The policy @ the company I work for , is that if there is a change in meds or new meds ordered, we fill out a Physician's Order sheet, not unless your patient is in the doctor's office, then he fills it out. One copy stays in the patient's chart in the home and the other two go to the main office to be sent to the doctor for his signature. Then one signed copy is sent back to the home to be put in the chart and one copy is put in the patient's chart in the office. We do keep kardex's, but, it's mainly for the other nurses to be on top of all changes. But, that doesn't always happen. Some nurses do as little as possible, and don't document real good. Sometimes my boss sends me to different clients to do what I call "commando nursing", to get everything in order the way it is supposed to be. It's kinda aggravating taking up other people's slack, because it's the client and the family that suffer. With my company, the only thing that gets signed by the family are the time sheets, but copy's of all nurses notes are in the home chart. That way, if mom or dad want to read what's really going on, they can. Most of the time, one or both of the parents are there when I am, so they know exactly what's going on. If they happen to be gone most of the day and then come home when my shift ends, I give them report, and then they can always go into the chart and read my notes. The parent's reading my notes has no bearing on the way I document. But if mom says that she wants a certain med not given or a change in care, I will document that. For example: "pt's pm dose of x-lax held per mom's rquest". That way they know that the pt. didn't get her scheduled med because mom didn't want her to have it that day. Hope that kinda answers your question. Nice to hear from you. Keep in touch. Bonnie

Hey Ann, Good to hear from you. You're right, it does present an interesting challenge. Most of the kids I take care of are either in a vegetative state, or were injured in car wrecks. Most of my kids(that's what I call them) have gb's, jb's or trachs. Some are on vents. Each one is completely different, so you have to know exactly what to do if a situation arises. Sometimes it's really hard because you can't help but fall in love with them. You're with them all the time. You have to try to emotionally distance yourself from getting too close to them. One of the ways I do it is to know that if anything happens and they pass, you know that they are no longer in pain. That makes it easier. Keep in touch. Love to hear from you again. Bonnie

Hi, Bonjon here, & just registered with the site. I've been working with a pediatric home health care agency for about a year, and I love it. I never thought I would be working with pedi's, because I just wasn't interested in working with babies. When I was in nursing school, I didn't pay awhole lot of attention to OB/Pedi, because at that time I knew I didn't want to go there. I was more interested in geriatrics, which I also love. I just happened to be offered a job that payed double than what I was making in a NH. So, I applied, and got the job, even though I didn't have zip experience. Now, I can't see myself doing anything else. Just wanted to drop a line and introduce myself and say hi.