- Joined
- Jun 17, 2009
- Messages
- 735
- Reaction score
- 81
I have been thinking a lot about how to make the incoming interns' lives more bearable. Covering the trauma floor for a friend today, I realized there's one thing I never quite squared away this year: establishing some semblance of control over the barrage of meaningless pages. I am talking about some really bad ****. I used to be a nurse, so I really don't think I'm out of line here.
"Gee, Dr. EP, I saw that you ordered duonebs on this actively wheezing patient getting 10 on their ISS. Did you really want duonebs?"
"Gee Dr. EP, Mr. Smith's potassium is undetectable and he consumes more Lasix than he does food. Did Dr. So and So from Team Not Yours really want to give that K?"
"Hey doc, even though this patient is not now, and never was on your service, this patient's primary team says they "can't" write wound care orders. She has to leave for SNF within a be next 3 minutes or lose the bed, will you help us?"
I like our nurses. Really, I do. I don't have any problem helping people out who are having a hard time understanding what's going on, but not at the expense of real patient care. I try to be nice and understanding even when it's really bad, but often have a difficult time getting people to wrap it up on the phone. It's the oddest thing- almost like part of it is just wanting a piece of our attention. Having been in their shoes, I get that we all have our to-do list, but some of the crap we get belongs on SNL.
I suspect that because I make a point to be polite in a specialty with a bad rap for hot tempers, I have inadvertently become the go-to girl. Kinda nice I guess, until you have 3 chest tubes and 10 discharges to deal with. So do I need to invest in a Wrap it Up box?
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"Gee, Dr. EP, I saw that you ordered duonebs on this actively wheezing patient getting 10 on their ISS. Did you really want duonebs?"
"Gee Dr. EP, Mr. Smith's potassium is undetectable and he consumes more Lasix than he does food. Did Dr. So and So from Team Not Yours really want to give that K?"
"Hey doc, even though this patient is not now, and never was on your service, this patient's primary team says they "can't" write wound care orders. She has to leave for SNF within a be next 3 minutes or lose the bed, will you help us?"
I like our nurses. Really, I do. I don't have any problem helping people out who are having a hard time understanding what's going on, but not at the expense of real patient care. I try to be nice and understanding even when it's really bad, but often have a difficult time getting people to wrap it up on the phone. It's the oddest thing- almost like part of it is just wanting a piece of our attention. Having been in their shoes, I get that we all have our to-do list, but some of the crap we get belongs on SNL.
I suspect that because I make a point to be polite in a specialty with a bad rap for hot tempers, I have inadvertently become the go-to girl. Kinda nice I guess, until you have 3 chest tubes and 10 discharges to deal with. So do I need to invest in a Wrap it Up box?
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile