nurses? do you have any training on anaphylaxis and allergies?

[bananaandcustard]

just wondering, as have had trouble getting safe food provided in hospital and trying to explain severe allergy issue to nurses. Have been asked if able to give own epi pen if reacting, despite recovering from major op and taking pain killers like morphine.

communication between change over shifts has been a problem as well, requiring explanation.

red wrist band on arm explaining severe allergy, list and anaphylaxis.

is there any policy for admitting a patient on a ward with allergy health issues?

The epipen issue may be because it isn't prescribed on your hospital drug chart? If so, then they can get in trouble for administering non prescribed medication but they know you need it so as a stop gap are asking you to self administer? That should only be an issue once though.
Allergies as you say, on red wrist band, on handover sheet, and on drug chart. At each medication round, ask if you've any allergies before administering meds.
Allergies should be passed on to kitchen staff who are then obliged to order allergy safe food.

I work in the community so slightly different but we do get training on allergies and anaphylaxis and we carry adrenaline so we can administer if needed, we don't need a prescription. In my last hospital we did get training and we had adrenaline on the ward that we could use if necessary but often the patient made sure their epi pen was close by the bed if needed as our anaphylaxis drug box was in medicine room so not necessarily close to the patient. We would get patient to wear a red band clearly stating their allergy.

I work in a school so different again but must update anaphylaxis knowledge yearly. We have immediate access to epi pens but it is a requirement of children and adults with known anaphylaxis to carry an epi pen at ALL times (and of course know how to use it) while they are on our campus.
Ordering food should be straight forward but there is always going to be human error. A friend of mine nearly died last year in hospital following anaphylaxis as the "nut free" food she ordered post op had been cooked in peanut oil.

Annual training is mandatory as far as I know. With regard to the epipen - on a hospital ward, i think it's probably quicker to give epipen once you know something's happening than it is to get attention and then the crash trolley etc. I'm not so sure about the food - nurses don't have anything to do with food prep so can only communicate to catering staff what the allergies are and trust them to follow guidelines.

When DD1 was a kid, she was about the only person in our mostly rural area who was regularly admitted to hospital and had allergy problems. One nurse even asked me what PRN meant in relation to the epipen. She also wanted to confiscate my epipen because she felt that only the nurses should use it. Food was a nightmare and i frequently had to take food in to hospital for her, as the kitchen was completely unreliable. I would hope things have changed now as allergies are more prevalent.

I am a nursing auxiliary and we do get trained in allergies and recognising anaphylaxis. You may have been asked to self administer because only a trained nurse is allowed to give the epi pen which by the way you dont need on your drug chart. Where i work allergies are listed on the white board system so they appear on handover however if you arrive just before handover your details may not appear on the next handover if the nurse doesnt have time to update.

Also the trained nurses dont deal with food and the nursing auxiliary only collect the menus we rely on what the kitchen sends us and sometimes they can get it wrong.

Also handover isnt usually about whether your allergic to food allergy will only be mentioned when its drug related or so ive noticed. Handover is usually a discussion about your meds and any nursing issues.

I am a nurse. The anaphylaxis algorithm is part of the Intermediate life support course I take annually. We have an anaphylaxis box on the ward keeps separately to the crash trolley because the adrenaline is given as an injection in an anaphylaxis situation rather than IV in a cardiac arrest situation. I would never try to take an epipen away from a patient, but would ask a patient on admission, to tell us if they had used it, so we could manage any further symptoms.

ime it's a minefield. I basically would have starved in hospital had my friends and family not brought safe food in for me as they seemed incapable of providing dairy free and chilli free food whilst I was in. ie was given a ham sandwich but they had buttered the bread. my epi pen was on my drug list and they still refused to administer if it was required.

mind the same hospital nearly killed me by giving me codeine in my pre med despite it being written in big red letters on my chart that I am allergic to it, telling every person who came near me and asked the same bloody question over and over. and then didn't tell me I had nearly died. i only found out when after 5 days of feeling like Imy chest had been trampled on by stampeding buffalo and finally got a gp appointment to be told I had gone into respiratory arrest under anaesthetic and had to be revived.

You might be best asking the catering manager to come and speak to you on the ward to sort out the menu issues. There will some one on duty even at the weekend.

If you need something sorted urgently e.g. if you've not not had breakfast and the nurse in charge isn't able to help you can ask to speak to the site manager. I'd follow it up with the matron on Monday.

There are policies on allergies in all Trusts that I'm aware of. Using your own Epi-pen is encouraged but obviously if your unable the staff would take over.