Tell me nurses.. ARE all hospitals like that

locolorenzo22, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2008

nope...I would start raising heck until someone started tellimg me what what going on...

mpccrn, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2008

ummm no. how can you take care of patients and not know their plan of care? who takes off orders? who looks up labs? who looks up radiology results? that tells you a great deal of what's going on with your patient (along with your assessment), even if the docs are tight lipped about things. be assertive, be active in your patients care, take charge. get a repore with the unit secretary, they are a wealth of information. in our hospital, it's just the opposite of what you've described. every department calls me as the nurse to make their jobs easier.....am i doing the stress test for joe smith, did he rule out? (labs are on the computer and they can easily look them up) micro calls me with + cultures so i can call the doc, social workers, PT, speech therapists etc etc etc.... it's maddning sometimes! :rotfl:

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · Jul 16, 2008

sometimes we may not know when they are going, ( no control on our part as trauma usually trumps/bumps everything else) but I know where and why they are going, and our communication w/the docs is great, we tell them when they are picked up for xyz, they are right there ready to read the results, let us and pt know the scoop

kendel · Jul 16, 2008

all the secretary s quit so we have no secretary now , being assertive is good but easier said than done when it appears the thats the culture of the hospital

I am tired of catching errors the mds make ... and when the patient is going for a test i am not told why I have been a nurse 6 months now and wanted to make sure its not like that every where because i quit in August

kendel · Jul 16, 2008

I look up the labs, but it would be nice for the mds to discuss the plan for the day or whats going on with the pt

a lot of times the md visit the pts room and discusses whats going on but not tell the nurse

i have discussed this with my coworkers and they said...oh yea u are right thats how it it here as if its normal and i dont feel i am learning the things i would like to learn

RNperdiem, RN · Jul 16, 2008

I make all effort to listen to the doctors on rounds.

I work at a teaching hospital and rounds are done at about the same time every day. I learn a lot I would not know about the patient. The doctors make the plan for the day as far as tests go, so they are your source. Often doctors will not tell you what is planned. If you do not ask or are not there to listen on rounds, they will simply write their orders and move on to the next patient.

A proper report from the offgoing nurse is the second source of information.

Keeping up with your doctors orders is the next source of information labs, scans, etc. require MD orders. Keep up with your orders and you will be suprised less often.

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · Jul 16, 2008

I look up the labs, but it would be nice for the mds to discuss the plan for the day or whats going on with the pt
a lot of times the md visit the pts room and discusses whats going on but not tell the nurse
i have discussed this with my coworkers and they said...oh yea u are right thats how it it here as if its normal and i dont feel i am learning the things i would like to learn

That really sucks, where I work, we have a conferences once a week, first thing in the NURSES report room( as soon as we finish report and they finish rounding,) the docs bring the charts in, there are 2 residents and an attending that represents the whole (GYN/ONC) service, the whole hx, admission, hospitalization,plan etc is reviewed, what's the plan for the day, tomorrow or so, and d/c. If we don't have rounds that day, or if something is going on, the resident seeks out the nurse and has a one-on-one. In all fairness, this only happens with the ONC pts, the benigns are not rounded on in this manner, but STILL we are kept up to date with and by the residents as to what it up.

Maybe I'm just lucky to work in the dept I do. I feel our communication is excellent and our input is valued. I can't speak for any other hospitals, I'm content with how my dept runs :mad: Good Luck, that would frustrate the crap out of me, you're basically winging it, caring for them blind, kinds like if you are trying to take care of someone you haven't gotten report on...??? seems management needs to step in and get things organized :uhoh3: BTW, what kind of a unit is this??

Altra, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2008

all the secretary s quit so we have no secretary now , being assertive is good but easier said than done when it appears the thats the culture of the hospital
I am tired of catching errors the mds make ... and when the patient is going for a test i am not told why I have been a nurse 6 months now and wanted to make sure its not like that every where because i quit in August

Even if you have no secretary/unit clerk ... SOMEONE is putting in those orders. How often are chart checks done?

While I agree that it sounds like there is a severe lack of communication I find it hard to believe that all the nurses on your unit are coming in to work every day to pass meds and admit & discharge patients but have no real concept of the patients' plan of care.

Keepstanding, ASN, RN · Jul 16, 2008

sounds like and accident/incident just waiting to happen.

:no: :no: :no: :no: :no: :no: :no: :no: :no: :no: :no: :no:

kendel · Jul 17, 2008

today I was at work taking care of pts as usual giving medications etc and they wheeled a pt in to one of the empty rooms????? hello.. it would be nice if some one told me there was a new admission coming up on our floor..

stuff like that is what i am talking about it doesent mean i dont know the pt diagnoses or any thing but some key issues are missing..

I wont miss that place am just hoping for better communication