State Survey

[Avelinne]

~HELLO~

Sorry for the loud yelling but I just had my first experience with state surveyors and I'm still a little freaked out!!!!!!

I work nite registry and was at an assignment that I have been at off and on for over a year now. 5:30am the doorbell rings and its the surveyors. The DON just Happened (yeah right) to have arrived at 5:00 am and when state walked in she walks up to me and says "You know what to do don't you. I told her in a squeaky small voice "do what I'm suppose to do, the right way". Well let me tell you, I was jumping out of my skin, sweating like a pig the entire time. Of course the surveyors asks me "can we watch do you med pass? I almost said no but I know that I couldn't. The other hall had a nurse too, why pick on the registry....I know they wanted to catch the LTC with its pants down.

So I go to my next patient and GUESS WHAT, the med card is not in the cart, at all, it must have run out and no one re-ordered it. So now I'm red-faced standing there with my &*@ swinging in the wind. I had to tell the patient her med was not in which made her MAD too. So now I got the surveyors questioning me and all I want to say is that it is not my fault. I just told them that the pharmacy had not delivered meds yet (BIG FAT LIE)and my patient asked for some APAP so they watch me pass that, all the time writing down WHO know what....

I KNOW I forgot to 1) knock on the door before I walked in, 2)to sanitize my hands between patients/push my hair off my forhead and 3)I did not check wristbands(I Know ALL these residents by sight since I have over a year going on assignments to this LTC facility and told the surveyors this. They watched me pass meds to 5-6 more patients and then they went to find their next victim. I had to leave at 7:00 am cause my shift was over but I keep replaying this day over and over in my head and all the mistakes that I think I made. I don't know what happened when I left. Does anyone who has had surveyors watch them pass meds let me know if any of these offenses will get the LTC or me in trouble??

I really like this facility and want to keep assignments there. But more importantly, I want to know what I did wrong so I don't do them again.

Thanks,Avelinne

[augigi, CNS]

They are looking for systematic problems, not problems personal to you. It sounds like there are a few things which could be improved on, which is the whole point of an audit. Try not to stress out, you can only do your best in a tough situation and it sounds like you did pretty well. The only thing I'd have fault with is "not sanitizing hands between patients"... hmm.

[Kashia, ASN, LVN]

Big hugs to you..that is alot to fall on you when, after all, the SYSTEM is the issue and if they weren't so busy making a profit off of dis-ease.....

sorry for the rant but when it comes to money, and that is what the medical system is about, the direct care people will always carry the brunt of it.

Who they ought to be auditing is the medical system in general not the caring nurses providing care. And remember..if a next time, take a moment, breathe consciously, wash your hands, then do your job :-)))))