Inaccurate Vital Signs- no one cares

Half of our rooms have broken BP cuffs on the wall, or they are missing altogether. The scouts will all give different readings, and the thermometers do NOT work on them- everyone has a temp of 97.2. The only things that do work perfectly are the pulse ox machines because they are brand new and chain locked to the scouts so they don't disappear. It is very frustrating. I cannot tell you how many times I have gone in to do vitals on an isolation patient only to find there is not a cuff on the wall. ARGH. My stethoscope and cuff are always in my locker.
The kicker here is that the hospital system I work at is rated "One of the top 5 places in the state to work!"

i would bring concerns (in writing) directly to the nm or adon, w/ a cc to risk mgmt, qa, or who you deem appropriate.
professional nurses being forced to use inaccurate/substandard equip?
it 'should' be unheard of.

leslie

Be careful with your own equipment. There are supposed to be records that the equipment used is being calibrated.

ilovenursing,

You mentioned JCAHO so you may have seen this before but I'll go ahead and post it anyways:

http://www.jointcommission.org/Patie...ntSafetyGoals/

Patient Safety Goal 16: Improve recognition and response to changes in a patient's condition.

How are you supposed to monitor critical rises and drops in blood pressure, temperature, etc, if the equipment doesn't work?

Hope this helps you plead your case. : )

Our unit has the most antiquated vital signs machines ever. Just the other day, i used the VS machine after it had been charging for 3 hours and after one use, it died on me. This was a breaking point. I filled out an equipment repair form and took the piece of dirt down to clinical engineering....I DOUBT IT WILL BE FIXED! We have had the same problem with this machine time and time again but nobody in management seems to care about find a solution.
MANAGEMENT IF YOUR LISTENING : RATHER THAN INVESTING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO PLANETREE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE - PURCHASE NEW PATIENT CARE EQUIPMENT!!!
THIS IS 2009 FOR PETE'S SAKE - SOME OF THESE MACHINES WERE MADE IN 1985!!!

to prevent the breaking/disappearance, someone needs to take responsiblity from shift to shif....hard to do, but make it like the old fashion narc count.....they have to be accounted for or that shift gets in trouble.....i know, childish perhaps...but the boss gets sick of replacing expensive machinery too.

nothing like a little media attention to get the problem fixed... if the chain of command in the hospital doesn't respond- this is a HUGE, VERY SERIOUS ISSUE!!!!!!

One would think that Vital Signs are called VITAL for a reason!!

Amazing. Simply amazing!

I believe that there were great responses from the participants in this thread regarding whom to contact. Most of them, however, seem like it may take a bit of time.

I would probably email and cc to the above mentioned powers that be, but in the meantime, use my own equipment. I can't speak for anyone else's facility, but I know for a fact for mine that the department responsible for calibrating the equipment just smacks a stamp and date, then, keeps it moving.

I advocate for using my own equipment because even though the correct department is supposed to take these items down to calibrate them, I don't know for sure what or how they do, but I can count on what I hear and see regarding vital signs. I'd rather be able to report what I actually, manually obtained than trust faulty equipment because at the end of the day, if it appeared in court, what do I then explain?

Stories like this make me so happy to work in a facility where accurate and up-to-date equipment isn't an issue.