Can a physician do nursing duties ?

[Pharmohaulic]

If needed, can a doctor step in a do a nurses job and fullfil some of the tasks of a nurse if needed... or are they not allowed to?

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[firstaidforever]

Nurses seem to adore it when an attending does it once in a while. But when a med student does it, they'll get annoyed as hell saying the med student messed it up.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

I've helped out with nursing duties when I found downtime. I don't mind doing it either.

 

[Merely]

Yes

 

[sliceofbread136]

Can a doctor do janitorial duties?

 

[Brorthopedic]

Can a doctor do janitorial duties?

Damn those upper-level encroachments slowly taking away the janitor's autonomy

 

[ACSurgeon]

If needed, can a doctor step in a do a nurses job and fullfil some of the tasks of a nurse if needed... or are they not allowed to?

Depends what you mean. Boosting a patient or cleaning a mess? Placing an IV or foley? Sure. However, most doctors won't touch an IV pump or push meds (aside from anesthesia).

 

[Pharmohaulic]

Depends what you mean. Boosting a patient or cleaning a mess? Placing an IV or foley? Sure. However, most doctors won't touch an IV pump or push meds (aside from anesthesia).

Can they do and iv pump or push med though?

 

[PL198]

Can they do and iv pump or push med though?

no doctors aren't smart enough to figure those out

 

[Pharmohaulic]

no doctors aren't smart enough to figure those out

Is that sarcasm? Lol

 

[Rekt]

Is that sarcasm? Lol

No, he's being serious.

 

[Brorthopedic]

Is that sarcasm? Lol

no he's being serious

Edit - Damn @Rekt we literally said the same thing haha

 

[WheezyBaby]

Is that sarcasm? Lol

Have you ever seen a doctor mess with an IV pump? It's like watching a caveman hitting something he's scared of with a stick

 

[Pharmohaulic]

Have you ever seen a doctor mess with an IV pump? It's like watching a caveman hitting something he's scared of with a stick

Well they don't inherently know how, but can't they be trained?

 

[WheezyBaby]

Well they don't inherently know how, but can't they be trained?

I fear we are beyond hope

 

[VisionaryTics]

Well they don't inherently know how, but can't they be trained?

Why do you care? Is it important to you to be able to mess with that devil machine? It's just a beeping mess of strange symbols...

 

[bannie22]

No, you will be written up for it.

Dont mess with anything you are not expected to regardless of whether the RN give you "permission" etc.

Anything contrary to hospital protocol can only be used against you.

 

[mcloaf]

Have you ever seen a doctor mess with an IV pump? It's like watching a caveman hitting something he's scared of with a stick

The day I figured out how to turn off the alarm looked something like this:

 

[Brorthopedic]

The day I figured out how to turn off the alarm looked something like this:

Your signature is hilarious

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Can they do and iv pump or push med though?

Yes, I do in emergent situations when my nurses are doing other things with the patient or it's a medication nurses don't push.

 

[Rekt]

Yes, I do in emergent situations when my nurses are doing other things with the patient or it's a medication nurses don't push.

Ah man, way to break the cycle. We had like 8 people screwing with him

 

[mimelim]

Have you ever seen a doctor mess with an IV pump? It's like watching a caveman hitting something he's scared of with a stick

They aren't labelled well, but I have yet to see one that wasn't simple to operate. Not knowing the basic functions hinders you as a physician. It just simply slows you down both in big academic hospitals as well as community practices. I'm not talking about theory. I'm talking about practice. You know how I know that the tPA got turned off this morning on my patient? Because I turned it off. I didn't write an order or tell a nurse to do it, I did it myself. Do I always do it? Of course not. It is rare that I do things like that myself. But, I never second guess it later. I never double check that my order got carried out. I also don't get burned when invariably someone doesn't get to it or does something wrong. It also wins you pretty big brownie points with nursing, which can make or break you, especially in the community world. I always tell the nurse as I walk out what I did and why. Nursing care varies wildly between institutions, but also within institutions. Having their respect means better care for my patients, which is very important to me. It wasn't nearly as obvious in the big academic hospitals, but it is night and day in the community. So, personally, I think that knowing the basics of the IV pump is useful. Obviously this is specialty and practice dependent.

If needed, can a doctor step in a do a nurses job and fullfil some of the tasks of a nurse if needed... or are they not allowed to?

I have helped rolled patients. I have helped change a patient's linens. I have emptied drains, foley bags, etc. I have started peripheral IVs. It is relatively rare, but it is about one of two things, sometimes both. First, my time. Sometimes I want an answer to something and the nurse is busy. I would rather do that thing and move on with my day than wait to hear back from the nurse. It is far more efficient to do it myself than wait. Second, patient care. Yes, we could call the ER to send up a nurse to try to get an IV or I could just place one. Sure, I can't hit a vein blind to save my life, but with an ultrasound? Never a problem. I can also be far more aggressive about going for veins than they can because I know what I can and can't use. I can go for venae comitantes that they should be scared ****less to do. But, even more than those kinds of technical skills, never underestimate caring directly for patients. People notice. Staff notice. Patients notice. Getting a blanket for a patient that you aren't actually caring for? It costs next to nothing to do, but it can really go a long way.

 

[witzelsucht]

once in the ICU, first rotation of intern year, they needed to top off some propofol on this dude. and the resident and attending are both sterile and like, come on nurse, give him a few mg. and seh's like nah yo, only a doc can push that. and im in the corner being a useless 'tern, and the rezzie is like, lol give it to him he's technically a doctor. and everyone in the room laughs. so i pushed the meds and it felt awesome. now i always like to give fenanyl or propofol. it feels powerful. it feels fancy. so yeah.

 

[alpinism]

If needed, can a doctor step in a do a nurses job and fullfil some of the tasks of a nurse if needed... or are they not allowed to?

I'm assuming you don't go to school in NYC.

Can a doctor do janitorial duties?

Can a doctor do secretarial duties?

Oh wait...

 

[Psai]

If needed, can a doctor step in a do a nurses job and fullfil some of the tasks of a nurse if needed... or are they not allowed to?

Nurses won't stfu about how vital they are and how much work they do but really the nursing assistants and I do more of their work than they do.

 

[Nguyen]

Can a doctor do janitorial duties?

LOl


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[Tenk]

The short answer is yes we can do everything.

I routinely push meds, change pumps, change vent settings (just to piss off RT), put patients on bed pans, hand them blankets, give them water, start IVs, and one time mixed tPA and pushed it because it was a small ER and the night shift was confused. No one will stop you so long as you know what the heck you are doing (or at least pretend you do!).