what do ward clerks do?

[sasha2lady]

ok....got a possibly dumb ? here.....our don just gave an aide a ward clerk job...on 2nd shift. the thing is....this position, regardless of who it is, is supposed to help take some of the load off us nurses as far as the phones &paperwork.....yet...all shes done is answer phones, file a few lab sheets, & read books. our nurses station is tiny, no more than 3 of us can actually fit behind it to do our charting etc....and we have alot of charting and tons of admissions, most of which come in on 2nd shift. i asked the don exactly what she could do....didnt get a straight answer. i asked if she could do the 24 hr chart checks, she told me no...that she didnt know anything about meds...well...my problem with that is this....if you can read you can do a chart check because all it requires is that what the order is should be on the mar or lab book or tx record....then its just stamped ,initialed &dated....i dont see what the big deal is. its become a real hassle trying to get things done with an extra body at the desk just taking up space reading books. not to mention all the aides try to hang out there knowing they arent allowed behind the desk. ive tried to help her get the idea of things....that its not just about answering phones & filing....i had her to fill out lab sheets and get charting papers ready for the next shift...but if we dont tell her to do it...she will just sit there and do nothing but wait on the phone to ring. i know of alot she can do....chart checks, filing, getting shifts report sheets ready, handle staffing issues, putting admission charts together which means putting all that paperwork that they come to us from the hospital with in the appropriate spots in the chart, checking to make sure that the nurses have the papers they need in the charts, handling the pharmacy when they call instead of pulling us from our med passes 3 and 4 times in a row because the pharmacy needs to know the new admits dob/ssn!!!!!!!!!!!!! etc.....sooooo my ? is this....if you use ward clerks at your job....what do they do??????? what can they do???? is there a scope of practice for them? ...if so how do you find out where and what that is? i did some research and found that they can also transcribe telephone orders......how can we get her to realize that when we show her and tell her to do these things it doesnt mean thats it just for that one time.....that it needs to be done every day when she comes in? fyi this particular person has always been super super slow....not dumb or anything....just physically slow even when she was an aide...it would take her over an hour to get 2 sets of vital signs...no kidding. shes smart, nice, & easy to get along with minus the slowness....we all have certain sections we sit in at the desk because of where our charts are located...never fails so far, she clutters it up and gets right in the way when its time for us to do our paperwork. ive had to kindly tell her to scoot over several times....still .....help! i wish that the boss had given me a straight answer the first time i asked. i know its not this girls fault because she was just stuck behind the desk and has had no training as this is the first time a ward clerk job has ever been done. ..so i am at a loss as to what i need to do for her to get her to be more ........quick and productive with the desk work.

[kat7ap]

Where I work the unit secretary answers phones and call lights, can page physicians, enter orders in the computer, fax and print documents, prepare a new patient chart, file paperwork, direct family members and visitors, etc. Chart checks are only done by the nurses. Even after a secretary or clerk enters or transcribes orders, it is the nurse's responsibility to make sure that it is correct and sign off on it.

[realnursealso/LPN, LPN]

Ask your DON for her job description. She should be doing alot more. Who oriented her to this position? Alot of questions should be asked about her duties. Also, I'm sure she is not the only ward clerk in your facility. I'd do some investigation into what duties the other ward clerks do. Let us know what happens.

[sasha2lady]

Unfortunately yes she is the only ward clerk. She has no experience and little to no training except for the things I've tried to show her between my admissions charting med passes txs and pharmacy calls. This is a brand new position that's just been approved by corporate and the don gave her the job. The don skates around my questions when I ask for a detailed summary of what she is supposed to be doing . I plan to ask again and maybe I'll get an answer. I did make her a list of what we need done when she comes in tomorrow. I've been trying to come up with a way to help her pick up the pace. I've come to a brick wall so far because I don't want to hurt her feelings by being too blunt but if things don't pick up it might come to that.

[realnursealso/LPN, LPN]

Hi Sasha, It seems funny that a new job would be created and they didn't make a job description. Maybe you could find out just what the DON, thought she would be doing? I'm stumped, never ran across this before. Keep me informed, let me know how it all works out.

[iNurseUK, RN]

Really? My ward would fall apart without our brilliant ward clerk. She answers the phone, enters admissions and discharges into the computer, files the medical notes, liases with the bed manager, directs patients to the correct departments for tests etc, sends faxes, contacts district nurses and social services for complex discharges, makes up the admissions lists, finds us medical notes for emergency admissions, makes outpatient and follow-up appointments, directs visitors to the correct bed and much much more.

We would be lost without our ward clerk.

[sasha2lady]

well, i still havent gotten straight answers from the don..and yea, i had thought of that too about how a position could be formed without a job description. the only thing i can figure is that it was supposed to be a temp position...anyhow....i am super frustrated with this chick....i have to tell her every single time i work to get this and that done and filled out...then she still doesnt follow my direction. for example, i told her that the charts need to be ready for the night shift nurses ...this has to be done every single day....she halfway does it. by the time i find it, shes already left and so there we are, stuck having to fix the mess she made or hunt down the papers we need...thus...we have to start alllllll over again and do it ourselves. its more than obvious to myself and the other nurses that she is not working out as a ward clerk whatsoever. i could get my toddler to do more than this. instead of helping us...its truly hindering us and our enormous loads. there are so many things that would help us out...other than answering the freakin phones! 1. some initiative would be nice 2. paying attn to instruction would be good too. 3. following simple directions .....i just dont understand the whole thing...i cant figure out what the don was thinking by giving her this job. however, this is how our mgmt does ....they put unqualified folks in positions that are just too much...all to save a buck....we begged for them to hire an experienced ward clerk....naturally didnt happen....we are about to start using med aides also....she just hired one who guess what.....has never passed the first med.

[loriangel14, RN]

That sounds really frustrating. We have awesome ward clerks that keep everything running smoothly. They do transcribe orders but do not do the chart checks though. Our ward clerks have to have taken a ward clerk course which takes a year to complete. All our clerks have to have the certificate.