Tips for preparing for surveyors @ work

[patskeelvn]

Hi everyone. Well I'm about to experience my first survey @ work, which is also my first job as a nurse. and I'm pretty nervous. I was wondering if you guys would like to share your experiences and also any tips on what to be aware of when surveyors arrive. Btw I'm an lvn so any input from lvns would be greatly appreciated!

[Marie13]

Hello,

I just went through my first survey in August as my first year as an LVN (yikes!). I was very very nervous and I was hoping that I was off when they showed up. To my luck, the surveyor wanted to follow me for my med pass! I had been followed already by our pharmacy consultant so I had been practicing, although I was very nervous I just had to remember mainly the 6 Medication rights. They usually ask to follow a Gtube, and PO meds. I had a 100%! If you happen to make a small error or notice something not right, you must correct it immediately. I was always going up to my supervisor and asking her questions. Make sure you identify the pt, we have a couple of pts that do not keep their ID band so we have to have a 2nd nurse confirm the name, always lock your med cart, wash your hands before and after for about 15 sec, don't forget to knock, carry a steth, check gt placement and residual, etc

we passed btw! and i'm glad that i'm over the fear of being followed by a surveyor:yeah:

[patskeelvn]

@marie13 congrats! I'm in the same boat you were. You are lucky at least you had a consultant to follow youbut that's because I work night shift.. do you know if the surveyor also came at night? They only thing that worries me is if they ask me a question I don't know the answer to, I have no one to ask because we don't have a rn or supervisor to ask =/

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

They can come on any shift. Any. Unless there is a problem or they received complaints in the past that might have alluded to a problem on other shifts, they normally show up on day shift.

??? Federal vs state? Rarely do we have fed surveys. When the feds come they are there to kinda check on the state surveyors.

Yes, you have one hour before and one hour after to be in the time frame. As far as the accuchecks, I would try to do them around the time due.