Thursday 21 May 2009

Mobility

If you want to have your patient mobilised just ask, it is one of the things I do, I'm good at it. I can assess a patients mobility as well as a physio and tell you if they are safe to go home or not, or if they need a formal physio referral. But, I have to be able to trust you and know that you have assessed the patient properly. If the patient came in with a possibility of a hip injury I need to know that you have excluded a fracture so that I can mobilise her safely. So when you tell me she has had her analgesia a while ago and we should try her on her feet I expect her to be able to make a bit of an effort. When she struggled and was unable to move even with 2 of us I let you know that her mobility is poor and she is a danger to herself and anyone trying to help. The last thing I expect to hear from you is "OK, lets get her hip X-Rayed!" WHAT? That should have been done before I went near her. She has been in the department long enough to have been X-Rayed and it makes me look incompetent and negligent to attempt to mobilise a patient who may have a fractured hip, as well as the fact that when she was being 'mobilised' she hurt me with her pulling and gripping. So now I have had to take analgesia and avoid patients for a bit because you did not do your job.

2 comments:

GAB said...

Some people just dont care. Im sorry your now hurt. Hope your on youd feet soon. I know what an injured back feels like.

Nurse Anne said...

So she was mobile before and hurt her hip and is now not mobile and they didn't do an xray? Crap, if she fell and possibly fractured her hip she really should not even have been sitting in a chair.