SaO2 monitors

Nurses General Nursing

Published

  1. Do you think nurses should have own Sao2 monitors

    • 22
      yes
    • 14
      no
    • 10
      sometimes
    • 4
      unsure/don't care

50 members have participated

Specializes in Med-surg; OB/Well baby; pulmonology; RTS.

I was just wondering if any of you fellow nurses out there have you own SaO2 monitor?

I also have been looking for some links but can't find what I'm looking for...

Any help will be appreciated:D

Thank you all!

Ginger

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Not sure . . .

I don't need one because I work in a hospital which supplies all the stuff to take vital signs. I can see a home health nurse needing one.

I have a stethoscope and keep losing my kelly clamp and scissors and pen light.

steph

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

HA! :chuckle I'm laughing because the unit I work on has a problem keeping those pulse ox machines from walking. :chuckle

I would like to see them built into the dinamap and other vital sign machines for quicker access and more proficient sat checks when required and/or needed. :nurse:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I don't have one, and wouldn't get one. Surgeons would never be expected to buy their equipment... There was a case a while ago here in the UK about a surgeon buying a tool this is rare I think?

It is defiantly the hospitals place to provide equipment. We have a dinamap and pulse ox combined which is hard to loose/steal.

:rolleyes:

well saying that a patient was caught wheeling a TV/Video across the car park.... it was fixed into a cupboard on wheels so we could move them around not for pushing across the carpark!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-surg; OB/Well baby; pulmonology; RTS.
Originally posted by ?burntout

I was just wondering if any of you fellow nurses out there have you own SaO2 monitor?

I also have been looking for some links but can't find what I'm looking for...

Any help will be appreciated:D

Thank you all!

Ginger

Let me clarify...

We do have Dinamaps for VS and all...but our sat monitor (the finger slip) is missing. Our RTs carry sat monitors but sometimes they are on another unit when we have patients in distress-if I have a patient in distress I want a sat RIGHT THEN, not later. The RTs will not leave their monitors with us....so that is why I am looking into getting one of my own...if possible....

Sorry for any confusion....;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in med/surg, cardiac/telemetry, hospice.

Our sat monitors also have a habit of "walking." We have ONE that is part of a Dynamap, and the RTs carry their own.

I'm with you ?Burntout...when I need a stat sat (LOL) I want it in my pocket. I just recently found out that I can order one through my hospital's equipment provider for a discount (approx $300.) You may want to check with your Purchasing dept.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU.

I agree that iti is the hospital's job to provide the equipment we require to do our job. I worked agency in a hospital that was requiring nurses to provide thier own thermometers. The agency nurses never had thier own so it was either borrow another nurses or the aptient did not get thiere temperature done. The hosptial caved in a supplied thermometers again.

If you do not have access to SaO2 monitoring then complainn - long and loud to you management. Write a letter today explaining the situation pointing out how lack of access to a common and basic piece of equipment is delaying treatment and sometimes dangerously. Explain how this will increase the hospitals exposure to litigation.

You might actually find that the hospital has nothing to do with the lack of SaO2 probe - it is the RT who wants to feel important because you have to come to them for the equipment - don't laugh I have seen that happen.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in MS Home Health.

I think the company should buy them.............

renerian

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Originally posted by gwenith

I agree that iti is the hospital's job to provide the equipment we require to do our job. ... If you do not have access to SaO2 monitoring then complainn - long and loud to you management. Write a letter today explaining the situation pointing out how lack of access to a common and basic piece of equipment is delaying treatment and sometimes dangerously. Explain how this will increase the hospitals exposure to litigation.

I agree. I would also request in the letter, your hospital's policy regarding documentation when an oxygen saturation machine (or other piece of equipment used for vital signs -- blood pressure cuff, thermometer, doppler, etc. is NOT on the floor. Should you fill out an incident report every time you do not have access to vital equipment -- such as a sat machine? Can't imagine you should have to page a RT every time you need sats. Send a copy of your letter to RISK MANAGEMENT. An O2 sat is part of your assessment -- you need a paper trail.

And, no, I don't think you should buy an 02 sat machine. Doesn't your facility need to calibrate/keep records of 02 sat machines? What if your machine is defective, etc., and you are basing your assessment on YOUR personal equipment? Can't imagine you'd be covered under your facility's liability.

You provide your knowledge base, your assessment skills, your critical-thinking skills, your compassion, and your dedication ... it is up to your facility to provide the tools necessary so that you can carry out your assignments.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Step down, ICU, ER, PACU, Amb. Surg.

I do not think that the nurse should be responsible for purchasing such a piece of equipment. It is the duty of the hospital to make sure that we have all the equipment that we need for emergency situations. All our SaO2s are built into either the IVAC machine or the ProPac monitor. There are disposable finger wraps for the kids (they are kinda like a bandaid) and then there is the finger clip. We do not seem to have a problem here but then the military do a daily equipment inventory and if the equipment is missing, they put out an APB on it and it gets returned.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Our SaO2s are also built into our IVAC machines, but we have an extra POx machine always plugged in and charging, ready to go in our med room juuuuust incase...;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in IMCU/Telemetry.

On our unit we have 4. 2 on our IVAC machines and 2 free standing (very big and old). The IVAC's are often broken, and the others are always in use, if not left in a room.

I found I was spending more time looking for one then using it. So I bought one of my own. The other staff thought I was crazy, until they saw how much time I saved. Another nurse got one of her own as well. I went to an Army/Navy store and got a pouch that I put on my belt so I don't put it down and lose it.

It does help to have one on you. I had a pt who didn't look quiet right, so I took his sat. He was well on his way into resp distress with a sat of aprox 86% on 4 Lo2. He ended up in ICU intabated. I don't know how long it would have been until he had his sat checked if I didn't have one on me. It was change of shift (I was going home), and nothing really wrong with him that I could see.I was glad I had it then.

So to answer the question, Yes, I do think each nurse should have their own pulse ox.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment