What happens if someone codes?

[RNOTODAY, BSN, RN]

I mean, I have never worked ltc, but am thinking of doing agency at some facilities.

My question is: When there is a patient in arrest, is there a code called? Who does it? Do you really just call 911???!!!! I am a lil confused.

[greenjanell]

Every facility is defferent, so you sould have to become familiar with their policy. Where I work you call a code by calling the hospital switchboard by dialing a special phone. then it is paged overhead. some departments have code buttons in each room (er ICU, CVICU, NICU) and they are paged overhead. Then the code team comes a runnin. Where I work it consists of the ER doctor on staff, and ER nurse, ICU nurse and cardiopulmonary RT to manage the airway after the ET tube is inserted, and hook up a vent.

[RNOTODAY, BSN, RN]

Every facility is defferent, so you sould have to become familiar with their policy. Where I work you call a code by calling the hospital switchboard by dialing a special phone. then it is paged overhead. some departments have code buttons in each room (er ICU, CVICU, NICU) and they are paged overhead. Then the code team comes a runnin. Where I work it consists of the ER doctor on staff, and ER nurse, ICU nurse and cardiopulmonary RT to manage the airway after the ET tube is inserted, and hook up a vent.

No , no, ... I understand the routine for acute care facilities ,I am actually on a code team........I am thinking of doing agency work at a "nursing home" ,(where I have never worked in )... thats what I was asking about. Sorry if I wasnt clear..... but thank you for your response nonethe less!!!!

[greenjanell]

oh sorry,

but at a nursing home, yeah they have to call 911. they call codes in the nursing home, they have a code cart (which is not much use becaue most of the nurses are LPN's and the RN's dont typically have ACLS certification.) but none the less, they perform CPR or whatever they can (IV,exct....) untill the ambulance gets there and takes over. Its not a very common occurance in the nursing home. I worked ther for a couple of years as an LPN before i got my RN. now I do ER and critical care.

[whoamiRN]

Pretty much like greenjanell said, we do CPR and call 911, and it doesn't happen too often because 90% of our residents are DNR! ACLS cert. isn't really an option as LTC has different regs than acute care and we would be unable to initiate some of the more advanced supports. (Thankfully, 48 residents I have enough to do )

[Beary-nice]

When I worked in LTC, our "Code cart" consisted of a basket with a face mask, a BP cuff, a stethoscope, and oh there was a board close by on the wall for compressions at the nurses station. Any resident that was a full code we did CPR on while another staff member called 911. It was extremely rare that it ever happened and yes most of our residents were DNR status. The numbers were 40 residents, only 6 were full codes if that gives you any idea of the rarity of it.

I'm sure every place does it a little different. That was an excellent question posed though!

[curiousauntie]

In the LTC factility where I work, we have an AED and all of the nurses are AED/CPR certified. But we have at least 50% of the residents with DNR orders and at least half of those also have DNH (do not hospitalize) orders. Before New Jersey passed a law that LTC had to have AEDs, we only called 911 when someone who did not have a DNR coded, but did start CPR. I am lucky in the city I work in 911 has never taken more then 4 or 5 minutes to respond to our call. In most other facilities in the general area where I work the nurses (Rn or Lpn) would call 911, start CPR, use the AED and get the required paperwork together before 911 got there. And that would ususally take at least 15 minutes.