Question about basic stuff that I should already know~!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ED, ortho, urology.

Hello,

With the overload of information I'm finding that a lot of basic nursing processes are just not in my brain anymore! And now that I have a job as an AIN, I need to know them, so I wanted to make a chart.

I thought I would post questions here and see if others could answer them for me??

Basically I would like to know, if a person has a low oxygen sat level say 94%- 75%, how much oxygen would I give them? I am thinking they would only need about 2-3L via the nasal prongs??

Thanks,

Michelle

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Specializes in Med onc, med, surg, now in ICU!.
94%- 75%

I hope that was a typo! If someone was satting at 75%, whack on a 100% NRB mask and call a MET.

If it was 94-95%, I'd be unlikely to give any O2 unless they were symptomatic. It kinda depends on your context - how low does this person usually sat? Do they have any disease processes which would reduce their saturations? Can you bring the level up by encouraging deep breathing?

Also, where did you get your AIN job? Awesome!

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Specializes in cardiac/critical care/ informatics.

an o2 sat of 94 needs no treatment it is within normal range. wont need treatment until it drops to 90 or below.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

What's an AIN in Australia? Is that a nurse's assistant? A non-licensed position? Here in the U.S. a nursing assistant, which is an unlicensed position, cannot perform any independent nursing actions like applying oxygen to a patient for a low sat unless directed to do so by the Registered Nurse who would have gotten an order from the physician. This may be different in Australia, but you would have to find out.

I would recommend that you find the procedure manual for your facility and read what it has to say about these various situations you are concerned about. Also review your job description. Most facilities have clearly defined what the roles of each category of healthcare worker is. If you step beyond what your legal and defined boundaries are you could get into a lot of trouble.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ED, ortho, urology.

It was a typo, it was meant to be 85% - 95% oops! I had a patient who was at 88%, I spoke to the RN and asked her if she wanted me to give the patient O2 via nasal prongs at 2L and was told to do that. I wasn't so much looking at what I should do as an AIN perspective, but I was looking at it as what would I do in a situation like this if I was an RN, sorry I should have been clearer! I try to related everything to see etc as an AIN to what my actions may be in the future as an RN.

As an AIN I don't do much on my own, obs, personal hygiene etc, but everything and anything is pretty much under the guidance of the RN.

I'm working at the RNC, casual on call, but I really like it there. Haven't been able to do much at the moment with exams coming up, but looking forward to more work after that.

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