Three sets of vitals in a 12-hour shift?

Nursing Students Technicians

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Hello everyone. I have a question. I am a pct at a major hospital. There was just a policy change and now instead of the pct's taking two sets of vitals they are adding a third set right before the shift change which is the busiest time for the pct's. Honestly, all of my co-workers are wondering how we are going to do this with are already busy crazy schedule. Each tech has as many as 14 patients and sometimes it can be up to 19 if the census is low at the hospital. This means that we have to do vitals on all those patients times three. The time that we are supposed to clock out is 7:15 but we aren't supposed to start vitals until 6:30. Personally, it takes me over an hour to do twelve vitals as I help my patients to the bathroom if needed, pick up the room, get fresh water, empty trash, etc while I am in their room as not to disturb them later. I don't know how I am going to accomplish this extra set of vitals without being at work until 8:00 Am. Also, call lights are going off at that time in the morning so what should I do? Ignore the other patients? This is really upsetting to me as I believe I am a really good pct and a hard worker but it seems like too much is being loaded onto the techs. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Specializes in Surgical.

@ OP - I work on a surgical care floor and we usually have between 6-16 patients per aide depending on census. We do vitals Q8H for stable patients and Q4H for unstable patients. This might be something you want to suggest at your next staff meeting. I'm not sure which type of floor you work on (I didn't read all of the posts), but I can understand how frustrating it is to do vitals right before shift change (Our last set is due at 7:00 and we're supposed to be out by 7:30). If not all of your patients are critical, this may be something to suggest. For example, we do vitals Q4 for any patient POD #1 or less, patients on telemetry monitors, patients who have had unstable vitals in the past 24 hours, or anyone else that we are keeping an extra close watch on.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
Does your tech do ECG's, blood sugars, help set up new patients after admission, clean the rooms, stock the nutrition room, the supply drawers and boxes on the doors, go get the tele for the heart monitor from another floor, do bed bath's, showers, help patients to the bathroom, answer call lights and do the I&O'S plus hourly rounding logs, filing and help the nurses with whatever the nurses need done? It seems like an overwhelming job that I cannot keep up with. Now an extra set of vitals is another job added to a very heavy work load. I'm wondering how to say no to the nurses when they are piling work on me that they can very well do when I am doing these vitals. Don't get me wrong...there are nurses that have been techs and they help but others that completely take advantage of having a tech and treat me like their slave. I do not know how to get past this and keep my job.:o

When I was a tech on tele I did ECGs, blood sugars, set up rooms for admissions, stocked rooms and cabinet above crash cart with extra supplies, I&Os every 4 hours, vitals every 4 hours, documented activity and hygiene every 4 hours, hourly rounding logs, blood draws, specimen collections (stool, urine etc), bring stuff down and from lab, such as blood, plus making the beds, baths, bathroom, water, call lights etc. This was for 8-10 patients. It was a lot!

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Specializes in Med Surg.
Teamwork. People should try it more often.

Exactly!

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We do 3 sets where I work. Our aids start first round as soon as they get report, second at 11ish and the last around 3

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I work on a busy pediatric ortho/trauma floor. If we have 2 techs working then we have 12 patients each. Yesterday I was the only tech so I had all 24 rooms. We do q4 VS at 0800, 1200, and 1600 on day shift. Some kiddos are q8 and others are q4 with BP q8. I also am responsible for I&Os including emptying foleys, rounding, emptying trash and sharps as needed, linen changes, bathing (although most parents do this for us), admissions/room set up, accuchecks, as well as the random things that come up. When I'm by myself I have the nurses each take 1 patient and do their VS for me -- all the nurses on my floor are awesome and don't mind helping the techs when we're swamped. Teamwork!

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Does your tech do ECG's, blood sugars, help set up new patients after admission, clean the rooms, stock the nutrition room, the supply drawers and boxes on the doors, go get the tele for the heart monitor from another floor, do bed bath's, showers, help patients to the bathroom, answer call lights and do the I&O'S plus hourly rounding logs, filing and help the nurses with whatever the nurses need done? It seems like an overwhelming job that I cannot keep up with. Now an extra set of vitals is another job added to a very heavy work load. I'm wondering how to say no to the nurses when they are piling work on me that they can very well do when I am doing these vitals. Don't get me wrong...there are nurses that have been techs and they help but others that completely take advantage of having a tech and treat me like their slave. I do not know how to get past this and keep my job.:o

Yup, we do all that on my floor as well. Vitals Q4 is pretty standard. Of course it varies from unit to unit, hospital to hospital. The worst thing about doing vs every 4 hours is on the night shift... You wake the patient up at 1 am and again at 5 am, and they are NOT pleased. It's hard enough to fall asleep in a hospital, and just when you do you get awoken for vitals. :arghh:

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You can do vitals early as one hour. Where I worked anyways. Most people where i worked were q4 vitals. I just started an hour early and was logging them on time. Lucky no q1 or q2 vitals like in icu!!!

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. Lucky no q1 or q2 vitals like in icu!!!

Thats why they are on monitors (and try q5 min).

Luckily where I work the monitors in ICU/IMU are tied into the charting software and just a double click charts it.

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Not sure about the inpatient floors at the hospital I work at, but in the ED vitals are done on a patient a minimum of every 2 hours. More depending on their chief complaint and less if they are there for a mental health eval.

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Specializes in Neuro/EMU, Pediatrics, Med Surg.
Ha. Ha ha ha. HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAA!! Yeah, good luck with that. Who do you think came up with the policy to add this task?

And IME of being a hospital tech, at least 50% of the nurses are NOT going to help you. You're "just an aide" and they don't do "aide work."

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This is so ironic....I am in my first semester of nursing school and wanna know what we are learning??? Bed changes, bathing, and vital signs.

I am a PCT as well, and nursing school just makes me realize even more how much cna's/pct's are taken for granted.

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Suck it up. Q4hr VS are normal, and during a 12hr shift that means you do it 3 times. I do it, and our pt load is 16-22 per tech, when they hit 23 then they are required to have a 2nd tech.

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Suck it up. Q4hr VS are normal, and during a 12hr shift that means you do it 3 times. I do it, and our pt load is 16-22 per tech, when they hit 23 then they are required to have a 2nd tech.

I don't think the OP is griping so much about q4 vital but more about the timing of them. Starting your last set @ 6:30 makes it impossible to get out on time.

What time do you do your q4 vitals? Most places are 8/12/4, which is doable, but sounds like theirs are 10:30/2:30/6:30.

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