Pixis for everything?

[NSDRN]

I'm fairly new to this BB and have found it to be the awesomest(is that a word?) BB for nurses around.

I have a question for you guys. Do any of your facilities use pixis machines for supplies? My hospital is installing supply pixis machines in which EVERYTHING will be kept. This includes 4 x4's, iv catheters, fluids, alcohol pads, and anything else you can think of.

I'm quite concerned about this because I'm not sure how this system is going to work with emergency situations. How many times have I needed to quickly get my hands on the dopamine. Not to mention my judicious use of 4 x 4's for everthing from bleeding to runny noses.

Any feedback is appreciated in advance.

[RNforLongTime]

We have both a supply pyxis and a med pyxis at my place. We are getting rid of the supply pyxis at the end of the month b/c the hospital pays $13,000 a month to rent them. They are gonna go back to the sticker method of charging for items like 4x4's, IV bags, etc. I think we need a bigger med pyxis myself as the one's that are on the floors have basically narcs--morphine, demerol, percocet, plus Emergency meds such as digoxin. lasix, stuff like that.

At my last hospital, they had a huge med pyxis that had pretty much any med you needed except for rare things then they sent those drugs up in unit dose packages or if it was a lotion, eye drops and the like. It was a PITA around 1000 med pass cause you had to wait in line to get your meds out for your patients.

[whipping girl in 07, RN]

We have a supply pixis only, and it seems to work OK for our ICU. Our stock meds are not kept in pixis, which can cause problems when someone forgets to sign something out and then whoever is checking stock for the next shift has to try to figure out which patient used the dopamine premix or the Lasix, etc. Our narcs are still in a locked bin which we have to count at shift change. I wish we'd get pixis for them!

[passionate]

We have pyxis for meds only. That works. For supplies? We have a flat rate billing system per surgery. I think having pyxis systems for supplies would just be a nightmare!

[passionate]

Where I work the fingerprint site doesn't work most of the time. I agree, I don't like using my fingerprint or retinal scanning idea, etc.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

Here's a crazy thing. . . Our unit actually got rid of the fingerprint on our pyxis. It got to where it didn't work on about 1/2 the staff; even folks like me that had used it for years in 2 different facilities without problems. We have a Med pyxis and a supply pyxis. I always found it so ironic that we had a regular password to get out highly controlled/dangerous meds like Morphine or Pavulon but a fingerprint was required to get out tape.

This is an NICU and we manage. Sometimes we "borrow" a needed supply from a nearby baby (frowned upon). For admits we have admit bags with all the basic needed supplies (gauze, IV catheters, bulb suction, thermometer, vials of normal saline and sterile water) at each admit bed. When it is used, the bag (a huge ziploc) is refilled under the new admit's name and then the bag placed on another empty bed to await use on the next admit.

It does help with inventory; the problem is when people don't use the system correctly (take out supplies without charging or not charging as many as they take) then central supply doesn't know to refill the now empty bin.

Also it will probably take some adjustment until the bin sizes are correct for the usage for your particular unit.

[meandragonbrett]

We have omnicell for meds and an omnicell supply station. Everything is locked and requires your User ID/Password to access.

[RNperdiem, RN]

Before the central line kits and chest tubes were put into pyxis, it was all too easy for residents to "borrow" supplies for patients on other units without telling the nurses or HUC, and we would run short.

I like pyxis for meds. Where I worked before, the pharmacy would deliver meds into locked drawers in the patients' rooms. Almost always there would be something missing. I called pharmacy a lot at that job.