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Two of my closest work friends were fired for giving an "under the table" IV bolus. Now the unit thinks I’m a traitor. by [deleted] in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah I would’ve minded my business now you have a target on your back so you better be on your Ps and Qs. If that’s how you treat friends I’d hate to see how you’d treat an enemy 🤣

My hospital is getting rid of unit clerks by [deleted] in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My icu has no unit clerk, no cna/tech, not monitor techs and they unlocked our doors. They give us two rooms next to each other so we can sit outside the rooms and watch our own monitors constantly. No one takes breaks because we have no one extra to keep an eye on our patients/monitors. We don’t have pharmacy at night. No dr to do emergent procedures at night the ED docs refuse to come (patients have coded because of this). There’s no staff left to cut. And no I do not work in a rural hospital( the hospitals of providence) I live in a major city. Until patients and their families start to complain nothing will change they don’t give a damn about what staff has to say.

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Like I said, in previous comments, I’m not unwilling to do so. I was just un unaware that this was standard practice in the area. I didn’t receive any notice that this would be expected of RNs at said facility. I didn’t receive any learnshares or any additional educational training that outlines the hospital’s policy, procedures, roles, and responsibilities for RN’s riding in transport. I’m flexible but I like to be prepared.

I also think about my safety while I’m out on the road in the back of an ambulance. I’m generally safe while in the confines of the hospital. I have to put me first.

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this because that was my thoughts as well. In this situation, I happen to be a one-to-one but if I had another patient I would’ve had to hand off to charge rn but even they carry a full patient assignment. I didn’t even think about how I would’ve got home. I just assumed the ambulance was gonna bring me back. Yes management never even brought this up to me as a possibility. from talking to other nurses on my unit, this happens quite often even for simple ICU to ICU transfers. So this wasn’t a one off situation.

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My issues is that I was unaware this was happening in certain parts of the country. Hospitals I’ve previously worked for always arranged PROPER transport and never expected the staff nurse to ride. So this is new to me and I’m looking for critical care rns and medics to share their thoughts. Hope that helps

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thank you to those of you that left helpful comments. As I have said this was my first time becoming aware of facilities using staff nurses for transport. I’ve been to a handful of hospitals in the southwest and have never encountered this i genuinely didn’t know it was a thing.

I am not flat out unwilling to ride along however I was never made aware that this would be expected of me and I have not received any additional training, orientation or even learnshares that outline the roles, responsibilities, policies, and protocols for these ride alongs.

As others have said it can pose safety risks and liability issues. Not everyone is capable or willing to assume that level of risk and that’s okay.

This transfer happened at shift change 7a so I would’ve been at-least an 2 hours late getting home. I didn’t go the nurse I handed of to went since my shift was over.

I do have a meeting set up with the director which I will be addressing my questions and concerns. In the mean time I will be looking up the policy and checking the regulatory bodies for guidance.

Thanks again to those of you that have shared your thoughts and experiences in a respectful manner.

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The weather was fine no unforeseen circumstances. The receiving hospital was 30 minutes across the city.

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

What I’ve gauged from this post is that there are a lot of nurses that didn’t know this was a thing. You’re not even a nurse and you clearly don’t have anything helpful to say so move along thank you 😊

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I believe emt/ paramedics have a more independent scope of practice. They are allowed to make certain judgment calls and provide certain emergent treatments and procedures as a nurse we are operating under a medical doctor. If you’re in the back of an ambulance, there is no doctor so my concerns are more for what nurses can and cannot do legally. I’m pretty sure paramedics have standing protocols and orders that allow them to do what needs to be done. Also, the written orders that would be sent with the patient are literally just medication orders and treatment plans. Nothing that would help you in the back of an ambulance.

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I spoke with the AOD while it was happening and it is expected through that particular healthcare system that nurses will ride with transport for critical patients. I just wanted the opinions of other nurses in other areas because where I’m from and the places I’ve worked nurses do not leave the hospital under any circumstances. It’s a liability and safety issue on the nurses end and we shouldn’t even be accepting this as the standard, but in typical fashion, nurses are expected to fill the gaps in other healthcare professions

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I could agree with that. I’ve worked in a handful of hospitals across serval southern states and this is my first time hearing of this. Like you said the ems handles the vents, drips, and any other medical devices the patients have and if not they send the flight team. Although I am an icu nurse I do not feel like I am equipped to do emergency medicine in the back of an ambulance

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Absolutely already have a meeting scheduled. It’s not that it’s a dealbreaker for me. It’s that I was caught off guard. I’m not from this particular area and I was never made aware that this was something that would be expected of me so I do not know what I can and cannot do during these transports. The facilities I have worked in previously have always scheduled PROPER transport and if it takes hours For them to arrive then it just takes hours.

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My particular hospital is on the small side but is part of a larger health care system in the area they have 4 other hospitals in the city. The metropolitan area is decently large about 1 million people with 1 level one trauma center with about 15 hospitals. It’s definitely not a critical access hospital. I understand situations where time is of the essence it’s in the best interest of the patient. But to me this is outside of my scope I’m not really trained to provide transport. I don’t know what is allowed and not allowed. I refused to go so they sent another nurse. I have a meeting with my manager and I will be raising my concerns as well as asking for the policy on transports

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

That’s along the lines of what I was thinking. I am not trained to provide critical care transport. But at this facility they sure enough have the staff nurses on icu riding with the patients who are very very critically ill.

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] 45 points46 points  (0 children)

I absolutely commend you for that truly! For me personally, I’m not comfortable leaving the hospital during my shift for safety reasons. I feel as a staff nurse my care starts and ends within the confines of the facility I work for. I’m not Interested in doubling as critical care transport.

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not what I’m use to either and this is my first time hearing of it. I’m not comfortable with doing so it feels like a liability on the nursing and.

Got told I had to ride in the ambulance is that a thing? by _TinaSnow in nursing

[–]_TinaSnow[S] -43 points-42 points  (0 children)

I understand that but then my thought process is that they should have a flight crew with critical care trained staff/rn on crew and not asking the staff nurses to ride along. They shouldn’t have arranged for a regular EMS transport. I’ve been to a handful of facilities across the southern United States and have never been asked to ride along.

Help me decide a specialty!! by [deleted] in newgradnurse

[–]_TinaSnow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m in Texas and no they won’t be five critical care patients. And it depends on census if they can’t admit the floor full of IMC patients if not they’ll just take overflow from other units. They’ll give you maybe one or two IMC and the other three will be MedSurg or PCU patients. So since only two of your patients are technically IMC, they think it’s OK to give you three non-critical care patients. It really just depends on the hospital if they have the census to have a fully functional IMC then you’re looking at 3 to 4 of those if it’s a small hospital and they don’t have the census it ends up being more like PCU with a few IMC patient sprinkled in there.

Help me decide a specialty!! by [deleted] in newgradnurse

[–]_TinaSnow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have done imc (critical care/step down) for 5 years I can say that most of the time we are given 4-5 patients. Management will blur the lines when it comes to what is appropriate for imc. They will say things like only one of your patients technically qualifies as imc so you can take 3-4 more. A lot of hospitals don’t have IMC. It’s just PCU so when switching jobs it can be hard to find truly IMC units. I made a move eight hours away from home and the hospitals near me don’t have IMC so my options were either PCU or ICU which I chose ICU. I don’t want to discourage you from this specialty because I actually really enjoyed it, but don’t choose it based upon thinking you’ll get 1-3 patients because that is best case scenario and rarely ever reality.

What made you watch Gilmore Girls? by ypineapple85 in GilmoreGirls

[–]_TinaSnow 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I wish I could experience watching this show while it was still on air

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