Would you ever ask another nurse to give your pt a suppository?

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  1. Would you ever ask another nurse to insert a suppository into your pt?

    • 51
      No. I would feel guilty and would delegate another nursing responsibility to them instead.
    • 7
      Yes, I dont want to do it either!
    • 4
      Yes, but I would feel guilty/bad about it.
    • 112
      Yes, to help teammate since turning patient on side for skin assessment.

174 members have participated

I am a skin and wound resource nurse for my unit and I have to do PU prevalence for my unit every wednesday. I have to turn 30 pts and assess their skin for PUs and clean BMs with the nurse if we find them, I even change dsgs for them of it is a PU underneath. I was taken aback when I was asked by 2 nurses yesterday "while im on that side can you place this suppository?" These are the only 2 favors I was asked to do all day also. I felt put on the spot and taken advanage of - I have never thought of asking another nurse to do this for me, I tend to think that people would prefer to do this as minimally as possible and you are expected to do the dirty work for you own pts. What do you think? Was I being a poor sport about it or were they taking advantage of me?

Nope. I wouldn't do it. The person who is doing the three safety checks and signing off the med as administered is the person that gives the suppository. Safe handling of medication administration.

What at if they made an error and gave you the incorrect medication to aminister? Potentially huge consequences for you.

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On the other hand, I wouldn't mind giving a suppository if a nurse asked me too if I did all the checks and signed the med off.

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I would not have been offended since it is most likely in the best interest of the patient. However, I do take issues with the nurses in the past who "helped me out" by giving the patient a suppository so they did not have to clean up the mess. That is not team work!!

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
What at if they made an error and gave you the incorrect medication to aminister? Potentially huge consequences for you.

I would do it, but look at the MAR first.

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Specializes in TELE, CVU, ICU.

Who cares? It's just a suppository. What is the big deal?

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Specializes in TELE, CVU, ICU.

Binary, how many different types of suppository do we usually give? It's either APAP or a laxative. Thr only trouble I can fathom if it's belladonna & opium.

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
Binary, how many different types of suppository do we usually give? It's either APAP or a laxative. Thr only trouble I can fathom if it's belladonna & opium.

We give ASA suppositories occasionally in the ED--for example, to stroke pt's who cannot swallow either chronically or as a result of the stroke.

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Nope. I wouldn't do it. The person who is doing the three safety checks and signing off the med as administered is the person that gives the suppository. Safe handling of medication administration.

What at if they made an error and gave you the incorrect medication to aminister? Potentially huge consequences for you.

Are you saying that you have never given, nor will ever give a medication that someone else has prepared?

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It depends if the other nurse was on the side that was easier for the patient to roll on I would ask or if I was on the good side I would do it for another nurse. We are all a team!

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Specializes in ICU/PACU.

They were taking advantage of you. She is there to assess the SKIN, not give meds. I would have asked the skin care nurse to hold onto the patient and I would give it myself. Just like when I ask someone to help me clean up a patient I will do the cleaning and let them do the holding if that is what they prefer.

The primary nurse should be giving the suppository. The skin care RN is not there to give your meds! Sorry!

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
The primary nurse should be giving the suppository. The skin care RN is not there to give your meds! Sorry!

I could see if the primary asked the skin care nurse "while you're in there, could you hang the antibiotic?" Yes, that would be taking advantage of the skin care nurse. While the nurse has the patient on their side, asking him/her to give a suppository…I don't have an issue with that.

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A suppository is a medication. The nurse who administers the medication is responsible for knowing the indications, side effects, contra-indications, patient allergies & medical history before administering any medication. Would you ask another nurse to administer a med you drew up in a syringe? I would object on these grounds-- not because it is a "dirty" job, and would not appreciate having the request sprung on me like that, when it is the least opportune time to have that discussion.

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