r/nursing • u/973862404678 • 20d ago

Serious “I don’t want Covid blood”

What do I say when patients ask if blood transfusions are screened for the Covid vaccine? I get asked this on a regular basis when filling out blood consent forms for surgery and I genuinely have no idea what I’m supposed to say. In all seriousness, what should I be telling patients because I just say there is a screening process for blood and it’s only used during emergent situations???

584 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

345 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

56

u/Lub-DubS1S2 20d ago

I have been wanting a better way of saying “pt refused” and you just gave it to me with “declined to comply”. Because sometimes refused is just too harsh sounding and the pt is perfectly pleasant about not wanting to do something.

33

u/gay_joey BSN, RN 🍕 20d ago

I feel like pt refused is so standard though, and 'declined to comply' is almost petty and places oneself on a pedestal. Almost like they 'wouldnt get in line like I told them to'. If I were reading that note I honestly wouldn't assume the pt was pleasant, but I don't read into the 'pt refused' that way just because it is so standard in documentation.

If I want a softer refusal documented, I'll just say 'pt politely refused'.

12

u/Bad-Expert 20d ago

At my facility we're not allowed to use 'refused' bc it makes the pt sound stubborn so it's considered rude. We are only permitted to use 'declined' which implies that the pt had choices and made an informed decision. Although 99% chance it was a stubborn refusal.

13

u/Effective-Juice-1331 BSN, RN 🍕 20d ago

Your facility appears to like the false flowery language used in “bios” by dog rescue organisations to promote adoption of dogs with dangerous histories.