That was my day today. Providing patient information for Dahey to share with folks at work who recently found out their boss has cancer. Despite everything, he feels good, but is not cleared to return to full duty. He's bored and they found some paperwork for him to do. He'll have to car pool, so it should be interesting.
I also got some information I made in a complaint against a business from the state office that handles those. Nothing significant, but it was nice to know that the process highlighted that the vendor was, at the very least, very "liberal" with the truth. If I could only rent a billboard and not be sued, or borrow this guy, because his sentiment is mine, too.
So glad Monday is over. I'm waiting for all this precipitation to end!
Stay tuned...
Showing posts with label information. Show all posts
Showing posts with label information. Show all posts
Monday, November 16, 2015
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Things not to do as a nurse, February edition
Yes, the fun never stops in RehabLand. Days ago, the State Board sends out renewal notices and today, they send out their regular newsletter.
Guess it's a reminder to answer those questions correctly.
We have plenty of our regulars: lapsed licenses and drug testing abuses. Here's the ones from this edition that you really need to put on your "DO NOT" list, students (and any other RNs for that matter...).
1. Do not attempt to substitute blue mouthwash.
Yes, we all know that certain forms of morphine smell just like some of the mouthwashes on the market, but stealing pain meds from terminally ill patients, is, was, and ever shall be unforgivable.
It will also cost you your license (there were actually two mouthwash switchers in this edition from RehabLand State Board of Nursing).
2. Don't go to a party, get wasted, then trespass.
This is also a problem, especially when you are convicted.
3. Do not share your Pyxis/Omnicell/drug dispenser password.
One person lost his/her license for this (and diverting narcs), but my question is, what happened to the idiot who shared the password?
Here at the Hotel, you would be fired for violating the information security policy.
Speaking of policies...follow them.
4. Don't assess the patient after a violent incident involving security.
This nurse was reprimanded for leaving that lil' old task to someone else. If your facility states you will assess following any altercations you must.
Besides, it's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Remember: you're considered in a position of power.
5. Don't just "borrow" a retiring physician's prescription pad.
When you are from a little town, people talk. And those pharmacists are smart. Hence the reason why they didn't fill any of your prescriptions.
And finally, my personal favorite:
6. Don't go offroading in the company car.
This applies to anyone really, not just nurses, unless of course your company car is an off-road vehicle and/or your job demands it.
Home health RN was out on his/her regular route seeing patients when he/she ran off road and damaged the axel of the car, requiring towing. Luckily, no one was hurt, but since this is a recordable incident while on duty, HHRN was required to submit to a drug screen.
As you may have guessed, he/she flunked (positive for marijuana). Remember kids, buzzed driving, driving while high (or getting high during working hours) is really NOT a good thing.
Guess it's a reminder to answer those questions correctly.
We have plenty of our regulars: lapsed licenses and drug testing abuses. Here's the ones from this edition that you really need to put on your "DO NOT" list, students (and any other RNs for that matter...).
1. Do not attempt to substitute blue mouthwash.
Yes, we all know that certain forms of morphine smell just like some of the mouthwashes on the market, but stealing pain meds from terminally ill patients, is, was, and ever shall be unforgivable.
It will also cost you your license (there were actually two mouthwash switchers in this edition from RehabLand State Board of Nursing).
2. Don't go to a party, get wasted, then trespass.
This is also a problem, especially when you are convicted.
3. Do not share your Pyxis/Omnicell/drug dispenser password.
One person lost his/her license for this (and diverting narcs), but my question is, what happened to the idiot who shared the password?
Here at the Hotel, you would be fired for violating the information security policy.
Speaking of policies...follow them.
4. Don't assess the patient after a violent incident involving security.
This nurse was reprimanded for leaving that lil' old task to someone else. If your facility states you will assess following any altercations you must.
Besides, it's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Remember: you're considered in a position of power.
5. Don't just "borrow" a retiring physician's prescription pad.
When you are from a little town, people talk. And those pharmacists are smart. Hence the reason why they didn't fill any of your prescriptions.
And finally, my personal favorite:
6. Don't go offroading in the company car.
This applies to anyone really, not just nurses, unless of course your company car is an off-road vehicle and/or your job demands it.
Home health RN was out on his/her regular route seeing patients when he/she ran off road and damaged the axel of the car, requiring towing. Luckily, no one was hurt, but since this is a recordable incident while on duty, HHRN was required to submit to a drug screen.
As you may have guessed, he/she flunked (positive for marijuana). Remember kids, buzzed driving, driving while high (or getting high during working hours) is really NOT a good thing.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
The summer's dwindling
Soon, Bubba will go back to school. It will be a new one and a new grade, so it should be interesting.
After a year of trying, I finally figured out how the school information system works.
More to come...
After a year of trying, I finally figured out how the school information system works.
More to come...
Friday, May 17, 2013
Dear Doofus IT Guy
Yes, I called your boss. After not one, not two, but three documented instances where I've needed technology services, you couldn't come through. Technology that doesn't work in direct patient care is a bad thing.
You screw up badly enough that you need your coworkers to clean up after you. And believe you me, they are just as pissed off as I am.
I'm not asking for anything unusual. I'm asking that you meet a minimum standard. I want you to communicate in a timely manner and if you can't solve my issue, let your coworkers do it. Closing my helpdesk work order and saying it's all fine and dandy is not enough.
Your coworkers (and the Hotel patients) deserve better. Hope you enjoy those remedial classes.
Sincerely not,
RehabRN
You screw up badly enough that you need your coworkers to clean up after you. And believe you me, they are just as pissed off as I am.
I'm not asking for anything unusual. I'm asking that you meet a minimum standard. I want you to communicate in a timely manner and if you can't solve my issue, let your coworkers do it. Closing my helpdesk work order and saying it's all fine and dandy is not enough.
Your coworkers (and the Hotel patients) deserve better. Hope you enjoy those remedial classes.
Sincerely not,
RehabRN
Friday, April 26, 2013
Yes, it's here!
The weekend, the weekend, the weekend.
It was a pretty productive week with a little weirdness added in for good measure. (What is that full moon for, anyway?) Yes, if you want to use the VPN client for Hotel work, you have to have the blessing of the Information Security Officer. It would have been nice if they'd have told my doc that before he/she left with a computer without access. (I got to play "scramble" to get things done.) I love HIPAA!
I got most of the work I'd started completed by the end of the week and lined up even more. For entertainment, we bet each other sodas (my favorite is Dr. Pepper) on the number of folks Dr. Q. would discharge by today. He was hoping for 6, but we did get 4. I guessed 5, so Mike, our nurse manager, won the prize, a Mountain Dew from me and two other folks who participated.
Now to face laundry and teach Dahey how to use his birthday present (an iPhone).
The fun never ends.
Stay tuned!
It was a pretty productive week with a little weirdness added in for good measure. (What is that full moon for, anyway?) Yes, if you want to use the VPN client for Hotel work, you have to have the blessing of the Information Security Officer. It would have been nice if they'd have told my doc that before he/she left with a computer without access. (I got to play "scramble" to get things done.) I love HIPAA!
I got most of the work I'd started completed by the end of the week and lined up even more. For entertainment, we bet each other sodas (my favorite is Dr. Pepper) on the number of folks Dr. Q. would discharge by today. He was hoping for 6, but we did get 4. I guessed 5, so Mike, our nurse manager, won the prize, a Mountain Dew from me and two other folks who participated.
Now to face laundry and teach Dahey how to use his birthday present (an iPhone).
The fun never ends.
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Oh happy day!
Time to clean and work on lots of paperwork...why is all that paperwork appearing? Nothing like tax season and the start of the semester for the senseless murder of trees.
For my resource-obsessed coworker, S: Look, blog uses no paper! S is a little different...she brings her water in an aluminum bottle from home, which makes me believe she thinks the Hotel water (a mere five miles from her house) is poisoned. Nothing like a paranoid person to deal with when you work. Thankfully, we rarely work on the same shift. I hear of her exploits from the other folks.
One of my New Year's resolutions is not to talk about people much at all, even in terms of whether they were at work or not. I'm beginning to think that military truism of only having the absolute necessary information to work is better with one's coworkers. Some things I'd rather just not know.
I had a little time last night to look up a few topics and so did a couple of other people, so we were Google dueling for a while. Someone picks a condition and we google it to see who comes up with the best information first, without getting info from Wikipedia.
It's always interesting on the evening shift.
For my resource-obsessed coworker, S: Look, blog uses no paper! S is a little different...she brings her water in an aluminum bottle from home, which makes me believe she thinks the Hotel water (a mere five miles from her house) is poisoned. Nothing like a paranoid person to deal with when you work. Thankfully, we rarely work on the same shift. I hear of her exploits from the other folks.
One of my New Year's resolutions is not to talk about people much at all, even in terms of whether they were at work or not. I'm beginning to think that military truism of only having the absolute necessary information to work is better with one's coworkers. Some things I'd rather just not know.
I had a little time last night to look up a few topics and so did a couple of other people, so we were Google dueling for a while. Someone picks a condition and we google it to see who comes up with the best information first, without getting info from Wikipedia.
It's always interesting on the evening shift.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Everybody's got one...
My dad, who was prone to colorful language for some reason or another, used to have a saying, "Opinions are like a*&holes, everybody's got one." I'm realizing as a rehab nurse that it's not just opinions that everyone has...it's the nosy patient.
You know him/her if you're in a situation where you care for patients for a longer term than your regular acute hospital stay. He/she's the patient who's always wanting to know the "dirt" on the unit and will ask everybody stuff about everyone else.
This patient, if mobile, likes to hang out where the nurses congregate, especially at the nurses' station. Said patient will listen to your every word and then repeat it all over the place. This same patient will also look at your computer screen and printouts whenever he/she gets the chance. Last night, our guy--let's call him Nosy-- was watching everything. He was watching me write notes (I spent a lot of time minimizing my screen) and on my break, he kept trying to read my e-mail. What joy!
So how do you deal with this kind of patient? Our guy Nosy isn't really mean, but he is extremely bored. First, get him something to do. If he's busy, he's not going to have time to talk to you. Our Nosy likes to visit other patients in their rooms and talk, so we let him do it, if the patients agree and it doesn't interfere with any other regularly scheduled business. Nosy always wants to know why people are with us, so we tell Nosy, "Ask him/her. If they want to tell you, they'll tell you." This is one instance where I like HIPAA...it can be used to keep the nosy patients out of your hair sometimes.
Second, if keeping him busy isn't enough, tell Nosy the truth. Here's what we do a lot: "Nosy, I think you're great, but I have work to do here with Nurse X. We have to talk about our work and we can't share that with you. If you go and come back in about xx minutes, we'll be happy to chat with you later."
Finally, if that doesn't work, take your chat with Nurse X elsewhere. We have a staff lounge that is off-limits to patients, so when all else fails, we have to go there. Excuse yourself and disappear.
You know him/her if you're in a situation where you care for patients for a longer term than your regular acute hospital stay. He/she's the patient who's always wanting to know the "dirt" on the unit and will ask everybody stuff about everyone else.
This patient, if mobile, likes to hang out where the nurses congregate, especially at the nurses' station. Said patient will listen to your every word and then repeat it all over the place. This same patient will also look at your computer screen and printouts whenever he/she gets the chance. Last night, our guy--let's call him Nosy-- was watching everything. He was watching me write notes (I spent a lot of time minimizing my screen) and on my break, he kept trying to read my e-mail. What joy!
So how do you deal with this kind of patient? Our guy Nosy isn't really mean, but he is extremely bored. First, get him something to do. If he's busy, he's not going to have time to talk to you. Our Nosy likes to visit other patients in their rooms and talk, so we let him do it, if the patients agree and it doesn't interfere with any other regularly scheduled business. Nosy always wants to know why people are with us, so we tell Nosy, "Ask him/her. If they want to tell you, they'll tell you." This is one instance where I like HIPAA...it can be used to keep the nosy patients out of your hair sometimes.
Second, if keeping him busy isn't enough, tell Nosy the truth. Here's what we do a lot: "Nosy, I think you're great, but I have work to do here with Nurse X. We have to talk about our work and we can't share that with you. If you go and come back in about xx minutes, we'll be happy to chat with you later."
Finally, if that doesn't work, take your chat with Nurse X elsewhere. We have a staff lounge that is off-limits to patients, so when all else fails, we have to go there. Excuse yourself and disappear.
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