When do you go to Management?

[MMiz]

I've had partners do stupid stuff and make small mistakes that didn't impact patient care.

There was some camaraderie amongst the employees where I worked. We often inspected the back of our eyelids at night and sometimes parked in ultra-convenient spots that likely weren't legal.

At what point do you report your partner to management? Not wearing gloves? HIPAA violation?

 

[teedubbyaw]

Boots aren't shined
Doesn't have a personal pen light in their own pocket
Doesn't carry shears on their pants
Doesn't have at least 2 knives on them
Their flashlight doesn't have strobe mode
They want to eat at Burger King


Any of that and I go straight to management.

 

[Clare]

We can self-refer or refer somebody else to a Clinical Support Officer. This is not "management" in that we are "telling on them for doing something wrong" and they do not get in trouble for it. It is getting somebody in to help with whatever issue or whatever. Like if I see somebody struggling with 12 lead ECG interpretation, differential diagnosis or scene management or whatever we can have a CSO help them.

Going to "Management" would be the Station Manager, Shift Supervisor or Territory Manager and would only be for something very bad. Wreckless driving, doing something illegal, grave departure from accepted standard of care, endangering pt etc.

 

[Mufasa556]

Boots aren't shined
Doesn't have a personal pen light in their own pocket
Doesn't carry shears on their pants
Doesn't have at least 2 knives on them
Their flashlight doesn't have strobe mode
They want to eat at Burger King


Any of that and I go straight to management.

You forgot not wearing their bullet proof vest.

Not wearing gloves. No.
HIPAA? Depends.

It really depends on circumstance. I always try to come to that person first and talk it out, explain to them what happened, or express my concern. After that, if whatever the issue is continues I'll go to management. The exception would be what Clare posted. You steal or do anything that fits into the above and management will get involved.

I've only once written an incident report (multiple actually by both myself and other field staff) on a partner, but he was dangerous, aggressive, and later confirmed on drugs. I'm honestly surprised we never killed anybody.

 

[NomadicMedic]

When the patient care or operational errors are so egregious that they can't be remedied through simple partner communication and would require remediation or discipline to correct.

 

[Kevinf]

...Wreckless driving...

That sounds like a good thing actually!

Spelling jokes aside, if someone doesn't respond professionally to an informal face to face, I'll escalate whatever the issue was. I had one provider that had developed the habit of grabbing the stretcher legs and yanking while unloading, apparently to assist the person at the foot at getting the stretcher out. The likely eventual outcome of that assistance is the other provider on his backside with a fully-loaded stretcher slamming into his midsection from 3 feet up. I told him I'd like to show him something, and asked him to unload an empty cot, and I gave it a little boost out of the back like he was doing. Once I saw the surprise in his eyes I told him he had been doing the same thing and asked him to please not do that anymore. He apologized and hasn't done it since. If he hadn't I'd have escalated as that habit had serious injury potential for up to three people. I caught another provider faking vitals. That was an immediate escalation and termination after an investigation.