Worst code blue i have ever seen.....vent.

[ganursechick, BSN, RN]

:angryfire I work in LTC and usually work weekends, but worked this week 7-3 to help orient a new nurse....this morning, i was in the hallway and heard 'all available nurses to unit one', i left my orientee with another nurse and went to help. When I got to the room , I found a room full of housekeeping staff standing around, 2 nurses in the bathroom with the resident, and heard one say 'please check her fsbs.....then I hear, can we get the crash cart and some o2, because she is not breathing.

okay i may still be new under the collar, only been a nurse for a few years, but even i know that if the person is not breathing, the fsbs is not my first priority. i was flabbergasted. then i find out that they did not call a CODE BLUE, cause they were not sure what type of code to call, and when ems came, they said that no one had told the dispatcher that the resident was not breathing, so they thought it was a routine call to transport to the er....were in no hurry to get to us....we got a pulse on the resident, but she later passed in the ER......i am sooooo frustrated.

I went to the Administration and suggested a serious inservice on Codes and the protocal for them. I only wonder if we could have saved another life today if the proper steps would have been followed.

[Kim O'Therapy, BSN, RN]

:angryfire I work in LTC and usually work weekends, but worked this week 7-3 to help orient a new nurse....this morning, i was in the hallway and heard 'all available nurses to unit one', i left my orientee with another nurse and went to help. When I got to the room , I found a room full of housekeeping staff standing around, 2 nurses in the bathroom with the resident, and heard one say 'please check her fsbs.....then I hear, can we get the crash cart and some o2, because she is not breathing.

okay i may still be new under the collar, only been a nurse for a few years, but even i know that if the person is not breathing, the fsbs is not my first priority. i was flabbergasted. then i find out that they did not call a CODE BLUE, cause they were not sure what type of code to call, and when ems came, they said that no one had told the dispatcher that the resident was not breathing, so they thought it was a routine call to transport to the er....were in no hurry to get to us....we got a pulse on the resident, but she later passed in the ER......i am sooooo frustrated.

I went to the Administration and suggested a serious inservice on Codes and the protocal for them. I only wonder if we could have saved another life today if the proper steps would have been followed.

Sorry to hear about your rough day. I don't blame you for being frustrated.

[SharonH, RN]

Try to be tolerant of your coworkers. What is glaringly obvious in hindsight might not be that way at the time, especially if it is a situation that you are not used to dealing with all the time. I think your suggestion of an inservice or mock code is a good one, but being judgmental is not helpful.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Ummmm, basic nursing 101. Start with the ABCs. Who gives a crap what the bs was when they ain't breating or have a pulse?

Basic assessment when you see a pt on the floor. Are they breathing? Do they have a pulse?

Sounds like you are a larger LTC, so having a policy in place where staff comes from the other floors would be helpful. In my little old world (one floor, two halls), I yell out for help, call ems. (after checking for DNR) then get started on my own.

Geesh...thats why LTC nurses get a weird rap.

[SharonH, RN]

Ummmm, basic nursing 101. Start with the ABCs.

So it would seem.

There is a reason that we need to refresh our CPR skills every couple of years and why there is an emergency specialty. Those who do not respond to emergencies on a frequent basis are not proficient in this skill. You can read about it over and over again but you need to DO to be good at it, no matter how basic it is.

[prmenrs, RN]

I love that Housekeeping was there in force!

I'd be frustrated, too....

Definitely work w/admin on doing a better job next time--no doubt there will be one.