chewyd

Is the son the hcpoa-if not -is the hcpoa law being violated.

I had a friend of a pt call me the other night.She was not the hcpoa-and she knew I could not tell her much.But she asked how the pt was doing ,if she was going to be transferred and then said 'I know who her Doctor is-is she being well taken care of ".Now -what was I supposed to say.:banghead: Now I know this type of call is unusual but as we all know -with the hcpoa law -you can't tell anyone who is not the hcpoa -anything. I will always talk to the family members and tell them what I can but try having 4-5 pts with 2-4 family members calling at least once a shift- We have tried having the family designate 1 person to do all the calling but without success. But i work a med-surg unit not an icu.

A few years ago I had laryngitis-could hardly talk.My fellow nurses would call the M.D.'s for me with me there right beside them-this was on a 7pm-7 am shift.I communicated with my pts the best I could and wore a mask when needed. Nowdays ,my policy is if I am sick - I call in.I tell my manager I am not coming to work if I am sick.Currently-we have the respiratory bug going around among the staff.I just cringe when I here them cough,have nasal congestion,can hardly talk-I feel we are just spreading it around further.We have staff members spraying the phone with lysol. administration may try to limit our pt ;oad but we are only allowed 5 call ins a year!!!!:icon_roll

2 years ago i had a family member in a well known medical center.She had surgery -gyn surgery -and died 4 days post op.The night of surgery-when I asked about her care we were told "on tje night shift we sometimes had 8-9 patints-so we might have to send her to ccu for closer monitoring.They never did and to this day I still wonder if I had stayed would she still be alive.I work on a 66 bed med-surg unit at a rurall hospital {and diff hospital} and if the night shift has 6 or more patients that is rare.We may not have a charge nurse as all of the nurses are put out on the floor.We have been running almost full census.Day shift they like to start them with 4[no more than 5] and 3-11 4-5 pts. It used to be 1 big unit-they divided it into 2 units but when we all full we more or less convert back to 1 unit-just wrap the nurses around the hall. Now unfortumately the cna's may have 8-9- pts on days and evenings:night shift may have 10-13pts.The RN's on my floor feel this is too much and have voiced our opinions but to no avail.But as you know the RN's usually are the last to leave-to get all their work finiah:nurse:

We hired 7 new grads in 2007 to work in our hospital.Of the 7-only 2 nurses passed boards on their first try and I was told they were pretty close to losing their accredition.

as a nurse i am not sure how this would work-but I wish they would have had it at the hospital where my sister in law had her hysterectomy.the night of surgery -no urine output-bp 70's systolic.she had a known heart problem.I would have called an rrt that night but I trusted the nurses/ doctors at this well known instituition.she should have been in ccu.3 days later she died"bled to death".knowing what i know now I should have called and demanded to talk to the house supervisor-as i had called 2 night in a row to see what her hgb was and was told by the nurse"i don't know" and someone has her chart.I was her hcpoa. to this day I feel if she had had her surgery at my hospital she might still be alive

We once had a nurse arrest on the 11-7 shift.I responded to the code and we worked on her for over an hour.She survived and was able to return to work.She had a known heart problem.The scary part was that she collapsed and finally another nurse heard her moaning and called the code. I was really proud of the team that responded to her code-the family sent a letter to the newspaper to thank us.

I have been a preceptor for several years.Our orientation runs about 8-10 weeks with 2 of those weeks in the classroom.We extend a R.N orientation if we feel she is not ready to be on her own.Our pt load is 4-5 pts and I usually start my orientee with 1-2 pts.depending on their experience.Once they are on their own we limit their pt load to 4 pts only for about 2-3 weeks and then if they are comfortable with getting an admit we give them one later in the shift.Usually the majority of time is on the day shift with 2-3 weeks on their assigned shift.We do try to keep them with one preceptor/shift.

33 Patients

Please Quote Some Of The Reasons I Am Curious To Kow What You Think-honest

I DIS AGREE COMPLETELY.SARAH BUSH LINCOLN IS A GREAT PLACE TO WORK-THEY ARE REALLY WORKING ON LESSONING THE RN LOAD.TRUE THEY HAVE HAD SOME TROUBLE WITH DOCTORS-I HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED HERE FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND HAVE SEEN IT GO THRU MANY CHANGES-ALL FOR THE BETTER.

MY SISTER IN LAW DIED AFTER DEVELOPING DIC AFTER A HYSTERECTOMY,SHE HAD A HX OF CABG AND VALVE REPLACEMENT,WAS A NIDM AND HAD CIRRHOSOS OF THE LIVER OF UNKNOWN CAUSE,SHE HAD HAD A CARDIAC CATH WHICH CLEARED HER FOR SURGERY.SHE WAS ONLY 48.I KNOW YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO GIVE ADVICE BUT WOULD YOU CONSIDER THIS NORMAL.BP IN THE 70'S POST OP NORMALLY 110 PRE OP,WAS NOT IN A MONITORED CARE SETTING.THE 2ND DAY POST OP HER PRESSURE WAS STILL LOW,SHE WAS LETHARGIC AND HAVING ABD PAIN AND NAUSEA,I WAS HER HEALTH CARE POWER OF ATTORNEY.WHEN I CALLED TO CHECK ON HER HER NURSE DID NOT KNOW HER LAB RESULTS????:angryfire

I THINK IT IS GREAT THAT YOU SAVED THIS PT BUT WONDER ABOUT YOUR TITLE "DID IT AGAIN-SAVED ANOTHER LIFE".I HAVE 'SAVED" A PT MANY TIMES AND FELT GOOD ABOUT IT BUT NEVER BOASTED ABOUT IT.

I Usually Ask Them If It Is Ok If I Call Them By Their First Name.if They Are Ages 18 To 30 I Usually Just Call Them By Their First Name

now this nurse is working days and things have not changed.But now she is having nurses who have been out of school 6 months being charge.I personally feel this is putting too much pressure on them.And now she is having these "new grads"precept other new nurses.Does this make sense?? and i have another problem i have been precepting a new employee r n.he used to work psych but then quit nursing for 4 years.He is now working a med surg floor.He gets easily frustrated and needs to work on time management.but more than that i think he needs to go back to a nursing refresher course.does anyone know where there is such a class?? and i have one other comment/question.we have 2 nurses-both work days.they usually have 4-5 occ 6 pts.they are here everyday until 6-6:630 charting.their shift is over at 3:30.we do computerize charting so i can't figure out why it takes them so long and neither can they