When you get your first met call as a new nurse...

[soulshine101]

I had my first my MET call. My legs, hands, and body was shaking I was terrified of what to do and how to handle it. Did I make the right decision calling the MET? Was the doctor going to think I was silly for calling a MET? All these questions racing through my mind as I sat bedside with my patient as they became more combative, confused, and somnolent. I always dreaded the day I would have a patient go south on an acute care floor. I feared I would freeze and my mind would become a blank space. The MET team arrived and began asking millions of questions, What happened, how was the patient before, what does the team want....etc.....Immediately my sympathetic nervous system kicked in to overdrive and I was thrust front and center as the advocate for my patient. There was no time to doubt my intuition, to second my choice, or to feel stupid about what I was saying. I had to exude confidence. What I learned from this MET call as 4 month new nurse: I am strong, I am educated, I am a patient advocate, and I can rise to the challenge. I knew my patient needed help beyond my control. I knew that I needed help beyond my expertise. I knew that I should not fear how the multidisciplinary team may react when a MET is called. I must stand to my own instincts and apply the years of nursing school knowledge when in doubt. Some may say the MET was not necessary, I say I know the patient best. They are my patient. I know them, I care for them, I give their meds, I check them hourly, I know their baseline. I am not to be doubted. Nor should you. First MET call down and I say it was a success. I made my patient's outcome my priority. I was their advocate when they could not be.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Sorry but what is "MET"?

[Atl-Murse]

MET = Milk, Eggs, Tan

[SmilingBluEyes]

whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? No seriously, I don't know that acronym.

[Farawyn]

The Mets just lost the World Series.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Sorry but what is "MET"?

I was embarrassed to ask. I'm clueless.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Medical Emergency Team???

I guess the OP called what we know is a "rapid response" and the team came to look at her pt.

[Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN]

Sounds like a rapid response team?

[sailornurse]

Reminds me of the time working agency nurse at a new to me hospital. In report I was told my patient had a "sealed vein". Gee, I don't know what that is, never heard of this before and been an RN for 6 years, LPN for 2 years. Turns out a "sealed vein" was a hep-lock (heparin lock) now know was a saline lock. Have never heard of a sealed vein anywhere else.

[soulshine101]

Its the medical emergency rapid response team. We call it a MET. sorry!! HAHA

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

Nice job advocating for your patient.

I'd rather get yelled at than doubt my observation that a pt might be headed south.

Here we call it early intervention team.

[K+MgSO4, BSN]

Im guessing Aussie or Kiwi!! MET calls should be a no blame culture. I work in a large metro hospital that has on average 200 MET calls a month. About 20% of them are not appropriate for 1 reason or another. The MET call team do not yell at anyone, they know that the nurse is calling the MET for a reason, often to get help because the treating team is not responding or the in charge is less than ideal, whatever. MET calls are no blame. I sit on the review committee with 2 hats on, my ward nurse and NUM hat and my current hat in pt safety. I have reviewed METs called for a pt who was NFR, died and his family were screaming at the new grad, valid call she needed experienced nurses and doctors to model to her how to deal with an unexpected death and very unexpected family reaction (suday afternoon all the kids and grandkids visitin, utter choas). A staff member call a MET on herself as she had fallen in the sterile pharmacy andhit her head, valid. The DOA NFR calls from nurses on one ward where the NUM rules with a fist of iron is something we are struggling with currently, we want the nurses to still call us but if we talk to the NUM about the DOAs she will destroy the nurses confidence in the system thus we will have an increase in avoidable incidents.