Disposable Bedpans?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi everyone,

I'm not a nurse, but have a question that I wanted to ask but I'm a bit embarrassed to ask about at the hospital.

My sister just checked in for surgery, and I saw that the hospital uses paper pulp disposable bedpans. Has anyone used these before? I would think that they would just dissolve when they get wet...?

I'd never seen them before, so I'm just curious.

Specializes in LTC.

I also do not enjoy poo showers. I suppose it would be quite expensive to start up new if you need a machine to process them, however sign me up!!

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I have used them and they are awesome. They stand up really well, even with really large patients.

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Specializes in Rehab, critical care.

I agree with nursetastic. I will only rinse out the bedpan depending on consistency and amount. If it's loose, and there's a lot of it, it's getting dumped and then tossed. Not risking an unpleasant shower. We have a lot of bariatric patients....do these things hold up for all weights?

so, it's just a pulp insert that you toss and then you keep the bedpan? that sounds more cost effective than just tossing the entire thing out. Because I know that anything that isn't cost-effective will not be purchased lol. On a side note, someone once compared those rectal tubes to go-gurt, so it will be awhile until I have another go-gurt lol. Those things are great for people who are frequently incontinent with loose stool, a god-send lol. Where's poopprincess? I feel like she should have an opinion on this lol.

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Specializes in Oncology.

How are you suppose to get I&Os? Can you dump into something else, then throw out? Do they come with measuring lines?

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Specializes in CICU.

All bedpans are disposable in teh right circumstances... I have no prob rinsing urine, but they go in the garbage after a good BM.

Back on topic - A few years ago grandma was in the ER for a broken hip and they used the disposable liner in a "normal" looking pink fracture/slipper pan. I thought it was pretty cool - especially in ERs or ICUs that may not have toilets or hoppers in the rooms. I love how I have to carry buckets of poo through the unit to dispose of it...

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Its called VERNA CARE

We have it at the hospital i work at. And they are VERY durable. Basically there are bed pans (the sliders) the ones for the commode, urinal, and the wash basin that come in a brown pulpie kinda material (carboard-like).

Usually I put a gel pack in if im disposing of a bed pan to solidify the urine so it doesnt slosh everywhere. but you just bring it to a desposable for vernacare and it breaks it down and vanishes (literally... in the machine).

http://www.vernacare.ca/product-overview/pulp-and-support-products.aspx

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
How are you suppose to get I&Os? Can you dump into something else, then throw out? Do they come with measuring lines?

They have measuring lines, and also you are given the weights of the product, so you can weigh it and figure out how much the patient has voided

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Specializes in ICU, ER.

We use VernaCare products at both of the hospitals that I work at. Even our wash basins are disposable. I LOVE them. I have never noticed measurement lines, but we have a little scale and weigh the containers for outputs.

They will leak if you leave them for too long (especially the urinals, I find), but generally they hold up very well and if you know it might be sitting there for a little while you can throw a pack of gel in it before giving to the pt and it will solidify the urine.

I have never had any problems with bariatric pts. In emerg, we put them in a regular bedpan and then just use a sanitizer wipe on the plastic bedpan after throwing out the insert. On inpatient units, each pt gets a plastic bedpan and we put the inserts in that. When they are discharged, housekeeping sends the pans to CSR where they are sterilized.

They even have special covers so you can bring them out of isolation rooms and the entire package goes right into the machine.

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Specializes in ICU.

I have a few questions for those out there using this system.

So the used bedpans and other products go in a waste disposal thing (evidently called a "macerator" on the website). Are these small where there's one in each patient room, or is there one big one for instance in your dirty utility room?

If there's only one in your dirty utility room, how do you get the dirty bedpan to the room, put it in a red bag, carry it over, and take it out then?

Just curious of the logistics of how this works, I think it could be great for my unit and would like to propose it to our UBC.

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Specializes in ICU.

Oh, the post above mine, posted one minute before mine, answered my question :)

So you put them in a cover and the whole thing goes in the waste disposal unit, yes?

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Specializes in ICU, ER.
Oh, the post above mine, posted one minute before mine, answered my question :)

So you put them in a cover and the whole thing goes in the waste disposal unit, yes?

Well, we only cover the pans coming out of isolation rooms (or if it's something really nasty out of respect to those we may pass on the way) and carry them down to the dirty utility room. It's big, but not huge. It's about 3 feet tall and 1.5-2 feet wide. It's kinda noisy, but it's quick.

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We use these. They go into a plastic or metal bedpan that holds the weight of the patient. The bedpan liner is the pulp bit, and is removed and macerated. We then just rinse out the bedpan ready for the next use. Saves a whole load of time! We also have commode liners.

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