I've been working on a long term care facility for a month now, on the 3rd shift. Recently, a diabetic resident had a rapid decline in condition. Moments earlier, I happened to pass by her room when she was about to go to the bathroom, had a small talk and assisted her. About 10 minutes after, when I was about to give her meds, CNA rushed to the station and reported her vital signs (BP 200/140, Temp 103, Pulse 90, RR 22) and that the resident looked like she was in distress. So I went to her room, did a quick assessment and she told me he felt cold. I checked his blood sugar, it was 300+. I called two of her doctors but did not get a call back, one went straight to voicemail and one had to be paged. After 5 minutes, I called again and still got no call back. All the while, my resident's vitals just kept getting worse, she was dazed and started vomiting small amount of blood. One of the old nurse told me to wait for the doctor and keep her here but my gut told me otherwise and call 911, and so I did. I was worried she might go into a CVA. So she was sent out, I informed the family and finally got a call back from the MD like 45 minutes after. I called the hospital and asked what admitting diagnosis was and was told it's fever but they're still evaluating her. When the day nurse knew about this, she was like "you called 911 for fever?" and got a "pfft" face. ***** What am I supposed to do? Wait for an eternity for a doctor's order? They also always check if someone was sent out first thing in the morning. What I don't get is why ltc people seem to not like it when a resident is sent out? and when am I supposed to call 911 without doctor's order? I used to love coming to work but now that I get to see how politics, bureaucracy and "business" plays out, I can't wait to pack up and leave.
