Hello fellow nurses,
I need your input! I work for a large hospital system in Texas. Recently management rolled out a class that is mandatory for all nurses. It's called "Advancing Acute Care Nursing" and this class entails is teaching how to titrate drip medications that are typically reserved for IMU/ICU. Some of the medications include Diltiazem, Epinephrine, Lidocaine , Vasopressin etc.
Here is the issue, after this class we will be expected to start these medications on med/surg floors. Management is pushing for this because "we cannot delay patient care". Of course this comes with huge issues, which we have brought up to management. Is our patient to nurse ratio going to change if we are expected to do this? These drugs require much closer monitoring so are we expected to do this with 5-6 patients as it is currently? Management has given us no clear answer about this and has made statements such as, "well you're nurses, you can't hang a medication when it's ordered?" And specifically regarding the concern with the amount of patients we take now and how are we supposed to do this with patient's who need much closer monitoring while on these drips, management has told us that, "Other hospitals are also doing this". This doesn't make me feel any better but I want to know if this is indeed true. Is this a new thing at your hospital on the med/surg floors? I would love to hear back specifically from med/surg nurses in Texas.
In talking to my nurse friends from other states they have all said no, it's not a thing. Thanks in advance guys! Appreciate you!