There should be a $50 charge for every redundant question they ask you. If you already answered this question in your preadmission form and your drivers license indicates you’re an organ donor, then every time a hospital staff member asks about organ donation, they have to hand you fifty bucks in cash.

(Note: the last time we had a paperwork question, people said “We’re demanded by the insurance company to ask these questions!” but this question clearly has no bearing on the patient’s care or payment, and in the unfortunate event of her demise, could be answered by her next of kin. It will not (should not) affect the choices the doctor makes in her management, and the insurance company does not care. It could just as easily be asked during preadmission or during the 3rd month prenatal visit. No excuse for asking it on admission.)

You say no excuse to ask this question on admission, but what is the excuse to ask her this while she is in transition, obviously labored for many hours already?! Way bad timing by that nurse if you ask me.

Sorry, but if you were on the wait list for a heart, mine’s already spoken for.

“No, but if you ask me one more stupid question we can donate yours!”

“I just need to know before I have you sign the consent to be under out care. Don’t worry, we don’t lose many moms.”

No way. Seriously?

I have the kind of husband who probably would have said, “Lady, in the event of her demise, we’re donating YOURS.”

I don’t even bother asking this question on my sundry list of stupid admission questions.

i got asked this question, and all admission questions, after the baby was born. i had the baby at home (accidentally) and when we got to the hossy they were stil asking stupid questions. i woud think had i had an “event of my demise” it would have happened before i got there…

Wow, that’s some awesome emotional support there! Right when the woman is probably doubting herself and feeling like she might die, the nurse has to ask her this. She might as well have told her “there’s a good chance you *will* die” because that’s probably how it came across to the woman.

This one was from a doula friend of mine, and even though she tried to ward them off, they wouldn’t leave the mom alone. The mom ended up initialing them, because the contractions were so close together at that point that there wasn’t enough time them to sign properly.

When we were told about 7 years ago we were going to have to ask our pregnant patients if 1. they had a living will, 2. If they had a power of attorney or 3. if they had a DNR(do not resusitate), I just about had a cow. When is the right moment to ask a woman anticipating the biggest moment in her life about, if you become brain dead do you have provisions in writing?
The problem here is that The Joint Commission, a regulatory agency that every hospital tries to attain and maintain creditals with, came in and after reviewing OB charts felt we weren’t assessing the entire patient. This is why we’ve started asking about living wills, depression screening, domestic violence screening, skin assessments and even fall assessments. Currently, the facility I work at, the main hospital computer system doesn’t talk with our maternal/child computer system; however we’re in the process of changing that so I can see what information admitting has gathered. If the patient does have a Living Will or Healthcare Power of Attorney, then in order for us to honor your wishes, we have to have it on the chart. Always ask for your POA or LW back at discharge. The information on every admission is closed and sent to medical records once the patient is discharged and I can retrieve it, but, I can’t use the copy of your living will. In addition because we have such a transit community, we always verify the same information with each visit. When I’m at the bedside, I try to ask the essential questions (about 5) right off the bat since I can usually obtain the rest from your prenatal records. In this way, I don’t have to interrupt the bonding period post delivery. But sometimes when a woman needs me more as a support person then that takes priority before paperwork.
It would be so nice to just be able to skip these questions; unfortunately, Joint Commission comes back every 2-3 years to make sure we’re doing what we said we were doing. This is a big deal because if we rack up so many penilty points then we’re given 90 days to make corrections. If not, we lose our accreditation. Accreditation influences insurance reimbursement, federal and state funding in addition it also tells the public that we aspire to give the best of care. This does not even touch on what Medicaid and Medicare or the health department require. to make a long story short….we don’t like asking these questions any more than you like to answer them between contractions.