Sunday, January 18, 2009

[cougarnurse]

Good morning, everyone! It's Sunday again, and it's finally warming up some here. :rolleyes:

So, what's up? Mom and I decided that we should all meet at their house today to celebrate Dad's birthday. No problem there. He was having a heck of a time with the chilled pipes.

[AmandaWIRN]

Am coming down with something.... have a sore throat & runny nose, just generally feel like crap.

Had orientation in the ER on Friday, and Tomorrow night I am on my own. Usually 1 day is enough orientation, but I feel totally unprepared to be on my own. I can do all the nursing stuff no problem, but I feel like I did not learn enough about their paperwork, protocols, etc... We did not admit anyone in 12 hours, so I didn't learn their admission process, and it seemed like my preceptor would disappear for 30-45 minutes at a time, so..... I told whoever would listen that I did not feel prepared to fly solo Monday night- everyone just kind of smiled and said "ok", so we'll see what happens.

Like I told the charge nurse- I can take good care of my patients, and document that, but don't expect me to have all the correct paperwork completed when I haven't been taught how....

[Robert F]

Good morning, everyone.

I am just getting off from a long shift on the trauma unit, and I am beat.
I agree with you Amanda, I wish that there was one Universal paperwork protocol for all hospitals in the US. Maybe then when the nursing homes send us a patient; their admit sheet will have a medical necessity on it.

One can dream.

[cougarnurse]

Wait a tootin' second there, Medic! I always call and give report to the ER when I send a patient out, and many of my co-workers do, also. Getting the necessary paperwork done, AND getting patient ready for transport vs. when you guys arrive is not always optimal (meaning you guys fly). Have also found that what WE tell the crew vs. what the crew tells the hospital are 2 different things at times. :nurse-soapbox:

Oh, and we have different regulations vs. hospitals, also. Restraints are one of them, paperwork is another.

[Robert F]

I am not talking about when I work EMS. I am talking about when I am in the ER or the Trauma Unit, and they bring in the patient from a nursing home.

[cougarnurse]

As I mentioned, I still call the ER, or my sidekick does. Giving a heads up is a necessity, among other things....

[Robert F]

I wish more were like that. Sometimes they forget to send the insurance scans!

[cougarnurse]

Sending out Psych Eval's are even more of a headache. 5 copies of the damned Petition.....2 copies of face sheet (one is for EMS), Med sheets, DNR if applicable (AND on neon paper!)....you get the drift. Oh, and calling next of kin re: transfer. Geez; we have it under control!

[orionseal]

Now Kids lets not fight here.

It dose seem to be that REG's get in the way of patient care though, AWA safety. We as Nurses(EMS too) get the brunt of the paperwork shoved on us no matter what setting we work in. The fact is that if we don't do it, it dosn't get done.
I see a lot of silly little REG's that could just get tosed as far as I'm concerned, but what would the pions from the State Board of inspector-gadgets do for a job if they didn't have us nurses to pick on? They would have to find a new line of work.
I can just see the list of accomplishments on an inspectors resume' 1) able to bully 15 nurses without breaking a sweat. 2)capable of fastidiously nitpicking every aspect of patient care at any long term care facility within moments of arival. 3)Having the distinction of never recieving a death threat because they fear I will haunt them for eternity. 4)able to hand out a ludicriss fine without cracking even the slightest bit of a grin.5) ECT.......

So untill some government agency finaly gets it through that the quickest way to reduce the cost of healthcare is to reduce the PAPERWORK we are stuck doing it.

Untill then we will be blaiming each other, nothing personal toward the EMS people, but it's the only way we maintain our sanity some nights.:nurse-soapbox:

[cougarnurse]

I don't suffer from insanity.....I enjoy every minute of it!

Honestly, orion, 'The State' may have their job to do, but they ARE too nitpicky. WE see the patients day in and day out, NOT them. Charting on 120 patients 24/7? Ok...60 patients; we split them up. I won't go on right now, as I'll blow a fuse on the subject. :nurse-soapbox:

Mind you, I still love my little old folks.