UK sterotypes in USA

english_nurse · Mar 13, 2007

Oh the uniforms yes us female nurses wear them real tight & short with the zips half down, jump in the nearest linen cupboard with the first junior doc (male or female depending on our slant) to come along as often as possible & spend every moment when we're off shift either in bed or in a drunken stupor!
On a slightly more serious note the drug trolley is the reality in many if not most NHS hospitals. One nurse does the round for the whole ward each time. We even had to wear a fluorescent tabbard with "Nurse Doing Drug Round - Do Not Disturb" printed in capital letters on the back!! Didn't match my tight uniform image at all Oh & it did a fat lot of good - no-one seemed to be able to read in that place!!
Where I work now the drugs for each patient are locked in a wall cupboard in their own rooms (private) & the nurse caring for the patient is responsible for administering meds to his/her patients only.

only reason my zip is tight is due to too many takeaways :lol2: and the druken stupor part is about 90% right (only kidding)

as for the doctor in linen cupboard part, well no comment lol

RGN1 · Mar 13, 2007

only reason my zip is tight is due to too many takeaways and the druken stupor part is about 90% right (only kidding)
as for the doctor in linen cupboard part, well no comment lol

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 13, 2007

Oh the uniforms yes us female nurses wear them real tight & short with the zips half down, jump in the nearest linen cupboard with the first junior doc (male or female depending on our slant) to come along as often as possible & spend every moment when we're off shift either in bed or in a drunken stupor!
On a slightly more serious note the drug trolley is the reality in many if not most NHS hospitals. One nurse does the round for the whole ward each time. We even had to wear a fluorescent tabbard with "Nurse Doing Drug Round - Do Not Disturb" printed in capital letters on the back!! Didn't match my tight uniform image at all Oh & it did a fat lot of good - no-one seemed to be able to read in that place!!
Where I work now the drugs for each patient are locked in a wall cupboard in their own rooms (private) & the nurse caring for the patient is responsible for administering meds to his/her patients only.

:D :roll

ayla2004, ASN, RN · Mar 13, 2007

On a slightly more serious note the drug trolley is the reality in many if not most NHS hospitals. One nurse does the round for the whole ward each time. We even had to wear a fluorescent tabbard with "Nurse Doing Drug Round - Do Not Disturb" printed in capital letters on the back!! Didn't match my tight uniform image at all Oh & it did a fat lot of good - no-one seemed to be able to read in that place!!
Where I work now the drugs for each patient are locked in a wall cupboard in their own rooms (private) & the nurse caring for the patient is responsible for administering meds to his/her patients only.

nursing times has reported the tabbard is a good idea can't trust anything.

drugs tolleys tend to be the side opened ones and olny one trust current one uses patient lockers

how much are patietns Self Adminstery medicens (SAM)where you are seems my trust its limited as the lockers all have the same lock so cannot give pt key as they would ahve acess to the whole ward

RGN1 · Mar 13, 2007

nursing times has reported the tabbard is a good idea can't trust anything.
drugs tolleys tend to be the side opened ones and olny one trust current one uses patient lockers
how much are patietns Self Adminstery medicens (SAM)where you are seems my trust its limited as the lockers all have the same lock so cannot give pt key as they would ahve acess to the whole ward

I saw that in the NT - almost wrote a letter back telling them of my experience - maybe I will.

As for the wall lockers the nurse has the key (one size fits all lockers). So no patient access. Controlled drugs are treated in the same way as usual - locked in treatment room cupboard with check book etc.

If a patient wants to self medicate they can be assessed by the pharmacist, who then signs a form to say the patient is being allowed to carry on with their own drug regime. In that case the drugs are then kept in the patients bedside locker to which they have the key. I tend to encourage my diabetics to do this because they know their needs better than I do & can adjust their regime as they do at home. When we come round to the admin time of their drugs we check with the patient that they have taken their meds & then write "self" in the box on the chart.

ayla2004, ASN, RN · Mar 13, 2007

rgn1

thats whats happens with self medicate and its mainly diabetics they get a sticker on the drug cardex and we have a code and nurses initals also can work for inhalers for COPD.

If we had indivual locker keys image they could be at SAM level 3 for most drugs. would make for a heavy drug keys.

makes me think with the american system of having drugs acessed via a computer system can't have pt self medicate them

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Mar 14, 2007

I STILL PUSH ONE

:lol2: :lol2: :lol2: How I miss the simple things in life

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Mar 14, 2007

:lol2: Here there is a computerised machine which spits out controlled drugs out at you. Once I hit the 2 twice and it was like I had won the lottery you should have heard me screaming but it wasnt for joy it was for fear that the machine had gone crazy. I was shouting help help the machine is dispensing hundreds of pills what am I goint do, never thought it was my error:lol2: :lol2:

:lol2:

:lol2: 22 in all

english_nurse · Mar 14, 2007

:lol2: How I miss the simple things in life

r u saying im simple??? :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

you may be right

:monkeydance:

suzanne7575 · Mar 14, 2007

I just wishj they would make their mind up where i am ehat they are doing, trolley or lockers? Atthe moment they have some named meds in the locker cupboard and some in the trolley, and being a bank nurse i seem to be spoending far too much time hunting for drugs and working out wether i should be administering at the bedisde or on the trolley. Some wards i work on though, they have a huge cupboard in the treatment room and you take your drug cards into their and do the patients meds then take them out to them.

ayla2004, ASN, RN · Mar 14, 2007

I have watched a show on BBC America, No Angels. .
Last question...... when passing medications the nurses push an open medication cart. I am assuming that this is all made up.

#

Oh and the ward in question in the show is a Medical Assesment UnitMAU

pt in my trust who come in via the A&E (ER) are commonly placed their sometimes for observations sometimes until thye ca n be scene by the medical speciality and moved to their ward. These wards are helping reduced long waits in A&E improve which considering hosptical get fined if a pt is not seen and treated or admitted in 4 hours from booking into A&E

so as emergencys their is often no time to get patients own drugs and use stock.

ayla2004, ASN, RN · Mar 14, 2007

madwife

have seen a computer system in A&E for controlled drugs

each nurse gets a account and pin. but pharmacy hates it as it takes ages to fill up and they still have a controlled drug cupboard and its well used.

but a liverpool A&E department has one that does more than this even calpol

pt hospital no etc are entered against the medicine and a report can be sent to the GP