If a patient needs a treatment he will get it...

Allow me to tell you two things about me.  If someone needs a treatment that patient will get a treatment whenever he needs it.  If the order is Q4 hours with a prn order, I won't make that patient wait until the four hour mark if the patient is short of breath. I know what it's like to be short of breath and I don't want my patients to have to suffer. 

I also know that when you're short of breath, even remotely dyspneic, you don't think straight; you second guess; you don't want to bother people.  Knowing that, I won't assume the patient's doing fine if I don't get a page.  I say this knowing some of my co-workers won't give a treatment any more often than the minimum requirement unless they get a page.  They simply assume the patient's fine, which isn't always such a good thing. 

I also say this knowing I'm lazy.  I'll do whatever I can to get out of doing work.  I'm a hard worker, yet I hate to do things that aren't needed.  So for this reason, if I'm busy in the emergency room I won't rush up to give a Q4 hour treatment I know isn't needed.  My coworkers often get all panicked when they are busy trying to rush to get every treatment done, yet not this RT. If I'm not busy surely I'll do it, yet I'm not gonna panic about getting a bronchodilator to a patient not exposed to bronchospasm.

Sorry, but it's the truth.  And I can tell you I got this way because I have asthma and I know I don't take a breathing treatment every time I'm short of breath, I use my inhaler which works just as well and costs 100% less money.  I also know I never use rescue medicine as palliative or prophylactic therapy, which is not what it was invented for.  Sorry, I'm just telling the truth.