Ever wondered what nurses do at work? Is it busy and stressful? Loads of information to keep track of? Play this fun game and find out some of the challenges nurses face at work every day!
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We want to show you some of the most common situations that nurses face every day:
•Patient calls
•Patient monitoring alarms
•Status reports from labs
•Calling colleagues
•Cardiac arrest alarms
•Patient satisfaction
Patient calls
As a nurse, you have to deal with an endless number of patient calls every day. Imagine there are several patients calling at the same time – it then gets more difficult. Where are your colleagues? You have to run back and forth and remember each patient’s requirements. And what if there is an emergency?
Patient monitoring alarms
Patient monitors give an overview of the medical status of critically ill patients. If a value reaches a critical level the machine sounds an alarm. The alarms can sometimes become so routine they are perceived as part of the background noise, so called alarm fatigue. This could lead to late or no response. Some values are more critical than others, for example heartbeat and blood oxygen levels. Should these values reach a critical level the patient must be attended to immediately. What was that alarm again? What type was it? From which monitor? Which patient?
Status reports
When a patient is admitted to ED, a number of lab tests and x-rays are generally taken. The results are crucial for diagnosing the patient and starting treatment. As an ED nurse, you are constantly chasing status reports from radiology and the lab. Treatment cannot start until enough information is available. Why haven’t we heard anything about the blood samples? No information is available in the computer system, and the lab isn’t answering the phone.
Calling colleagues
Hospital professionals are constantly calling each other to provide or receive information. As a nurse, you must respond to incoming calls, take messages for other people and sometimes act on calls someone else has taken for you. On a busy ward with a constantly ringing central phone, this can become very stressful and things can be overlooked.
Cardiac arrest alarms
Cardiac arrest means that the heart stops beating. When this happens every second counts and resuscitation (CPR) must start immediately. As a nurse, you must call for help and start CPR until the specially trained cardiac arrest/code blue team arrives. And this can happen anytime, anywhere. So you must be prepared!
Patient satisfaction
When a nurse does a good job, the patient is satisfied. The better the nursing, the happier patients are and their recovery is faster. Happier patients stay for a shorter time in hospital and recover quicker. This is definitely the win-win-win situation we all want!