Know Which Patients to Prioritize

Expected vs. Unexpected

• You expect patients to have nausea after surgery.
• You do not expect patients to go into shock.

Chronic vs. Acute

• Prioritize patient with an allergic reaction over a patient with the influenza.

Stable vs. Unstable

• Prioritize patients who deteriorated from their normal baseline. (i.e. patients who are nonresponsive on dialysis when the blood pressure drop.)
• Patients who have signs of shock are not stable.

Potential Problem vs. Actual Problem

• Prioritize postoperative patients who just got out of surgery vs teaching preoperative patients about the potential problems.
• Prioritize Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. (Physiological needs before love and belonging)

Safe vs. Unsafe

• Prioritize any situation when the LPN or UAP is doing anything out of their scope of practice.
• Prioritize malfunctioning equipment or tubing.