7C: Vital Signs/Documentation

When our wonderful techs do the vital signs for our patients, nurses must remember to check that they are 1) age appropriate/baseline 2) documented appropriately in McKesson, and 3)suitable for medication administration. We should not be administering medications without a recent set of vital signs- and if they are not documented, they were not done. Our techs are fantastic and often know our patients as well as we do, however, they are not liscenced and are not the ones administering medications. It is the nurses responsibility to check the vital signs prior to doing so. 0600 vitals are fine for 0800 medications, as long as the patient is unchanged, but if it is 0930-1000, and the tech has not yet taken the vitals on your patient, you may need to do them yourself or coordinate with the tech to take them a bit earlier. Questions, concerns, or ideas to improve this process, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks! Erin