What gadgets/tools do you own?

monkeybug · Sep 27, 2012

I'm a public health nurse (former L&D nurse) so my bag is stocked with BP cuff, stethoscope, adult scales, infant scales, measuring tape, flashlight, and smart phone. I have nifty apps on my iphone, like a pregnancy wheel. I have to confess a lack of scissors and hemostats, but I plan to remedy that lack very soon. My job also means carrying toys, books, DVD player, and DVDs depending on the day and the need.

Columnist · Sep 27, 2012

Moved to Nursing Scrubs / Uniforms / Gear for more response.

vdrapeau · Sep 27, 2012

I'm curious what kind of supplies y'all own, keep handy or use. Obviously stethescope, BP cuff, pen light...etc. But what other stuff do you keep for your personal use? Hemostats, pulse ox, glucometer, scissors...

Hemostats and scissors. I don't usually bring my own BP cuff to work but I've been pretty tempted lately. I'd like to get a pulse ox so I don't have to steal the vitals cart from the aides or wait until they are finished to get O2 sats charted.

kissafish4 · Sep 28, 2012

I keep a sewing measuring tape that's waterproof etc so it can be cleaned between patients. Scissors, tape, and penlight are definitely necessities and of course a stethoscope goes without saying but I also keep a pair of calipers in my pocket for measuring rhythms, alcohol wipes, and the little caps that go on the end of an iv line to keep it sterile, saline flushes, dry erase marker, permanent marker, and a pen. That's the contents of my pocket any given night that I work. I also keep an entire box of my size sterile gloves in my work locker as the gloves contained in many supply kits do not fit me properly. I guess that's the tools of my trade. I don't usually carry a bag. I just have uniforms with lots of pockets!

loriangel14, RN · Sep 28, 2012

I work in a hospital that supplies the tools we need so I don't have to haul my own stuff.

LaceyRN12 · Oct 4, 2012

Hemostats, notepad, tablet with apps, pen with multiple colors

emmy27 · Oct 11, 2012

My scrub pockets always have alcohol swabs, flushes, swabcaps for luerlocks, iv tubing caps, a pen, and a carpuject syringe (and at the start of most shifts, tape and a scissors, but they rarely stick around for the full twelve hours- tape usually winds up left in a contact room and scissors in a sharps box after removing some nasty bandage). I keep a sharpie and a dry erase marker on my badge, too.

Other than my stethoscope, I don't usually bring any personal reusable equipment to work. The manual blood pressure cuffs we have on the floor are better quality than my student one and I suspect a pulse ox would get "lost" pretty fast.