The phone note “Are OR nurses going out to see their patients prior to meeting them at the door of the room? Is this not a done thing?”
If so, why not? You get to meet a patient who has probably not had any mind-altering medications (ahem, versed) and can assess many things in a 2-minute conversation. You can allay their fears. And the fears of the family member, who you can also meet. Put a face to the person who is taking care of their loved one behind the double doors.
Most importantly you can quadruple check the NPO status. I have a story for this. Once upon a time, I was the last person to interview a patient. Anesthesiologist, pre-op nurse, CRNA, other pre-op nurse, CNA, surgeon. And she lied to them all. Why she chose to tell me the truth, I don’t know. The patient, who was in her 80s, giggled at me and whispered to me she had had chocolate cake on the ride in to the hospital. Case canceled.
You can establish rapport and assure them that there are humans behind the masks and the aforementioned double doors. There are people involved in their surgery beyond anesthesia and the surgeon.
I chose this topic to be a Post-it Sunday because I have heard that the newer nurses are not going out to interview. Instead, the focus is on starting the chart.
I have heard this from multiple people.
Um, excuse me?
I am deeply unsettled by this report.
This leaves the patient and the nurse and the hospital in a delicate situation. All it takes is the CRNA bringing the wrong patient to the wrong room and introducing them to the RN at the door. Per policy. The patients are sleepy because of Versed when they hit the doors to the OR.
Boom!
Clusterfuck of immense proportions!
Not to mention Lawsuit City!
I must investigate further.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 