What would you do in this situation?

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Specializes in Mental and Behavioral Health.

What would YOU do if:

The day shift left you a chemstrip to do on a resident with no additional information other than to get it.

You are finally able to get chemstrip results at 2130. They show trace protein, and ++ leukocytes.

Resident has no pain or burning with urination. No incontinence. No frequency. No fever. No change in mental status.

How would you proceed?

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Specializes in Geriatrics..

Notify the doctor.

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Specializes in Case Mgmt, Anesthesia, ICU, ER, Dialysis.

2130 isn't too late to call the doc/extender on-call.

If for some reason you couldn't, and you felt like you wouldn't get in trouble for it, I'd watch them a little closer during the night and do a fresh culture to send out with the morning labs for a C&S.

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Specializes in Mental and Behavioral Health.
Notify the doctor.

Would you immediately call the on-call?

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Did someone verbally tell you? If so, I would have said ok and why?

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Specializes in Case Mgmt, Anesthesia, ICU, ER, Dialysis.

I might call the nurse who told me to get the sample before I called the on-call, and ask him/her why they told me to get it.

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Specializes in Mental and Behavioral Health.
Did someone verbally tell you? If so, I would have said ok and why?

They left it on the 24 hour report. It was hard to read. It said that it had been requested, but I couldn't tell who it had been requested by.

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Specializes in Mental and Behavioral Health.
I might call the nurse who told me to get the sample before I called the on-call, and ask him/her why they told me to get it.

You would want to know about other symptoms the resident was having? Would the chemstrip itself be enough to make you call the on-call? Do you trust a chemstrip that much? I'm trying to find out if I should.

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Specializes in Case Mgmt, Anesthesia, ICU, ER, Dialysis.
You would want to know about other symptoms the resident was having? Would the chemstrip itself be enough to make you call the on-call? Do you trust a chemstrip that much? I'm trying to find out if I should.

My point exactly - what was going on that made them think the resident might need it??

Regardless, with the elderly and UTI's, you can't know about something like that, and sit on it, so I'd still call the on-call before it got too late, to report it.

They may just tell you to watch them closely that night and do the C&S in the am, but then it's on THEIR judgement and not yours.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

I would contact the MD on call, ask why the chem strip was ordered, and pass on the results. Then I would document everything.

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Specializes in Surgery, Tele, OB, Peds,ED-True Float RN.

At my hospital we'd add it to the doctors list for the AM (if no other symptoms) and send it for culture and of course watch the pt closely. If we called the on call doc he would be like, "What the heck, seriously... that can't wait for the pt's own doc @ 0700hr..." I know you all are saying, "well he's on call..." but at our facility we don't call for everything like that... we use our judgement and something like that would wait for the doc in the am. However, we are not LTC we are acute and chronic medical floor.

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Specializes in CVICU.

When I worked in LTC that sort of thing would have waited until the am and then called in to that dr's office

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