Do you buy medical equipment for home use?

Nurses General Nursing

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Just curious, do any of you nurses buy special medical equipment (ie patient monitors, iv pumps etc) for use at home and use it on yourself/family members?

I have a BP monitor and an 02 saturation monitor, and I got an LED vein finder for Christmas.

I have these, but not the vein finder, yet.

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Dear OP, did you ever see how much this "fascinating" stuff costs? Plus, it needs to be maintained and calibrated periodically, otherwise you cannot trust the numbers.

I have a whole lot of such crap (nebulizer, tent, pulse ox, spirometer, etc), portable "quick lyte" machine and mandatory "anaphylaxis set" but that's not because I find it fascinating. It is there so I can live my life and do my job instead of sitting in hospital forever like so many of my patients do. The whole stuff is prescribed and was paid by insurance.

Only one thing I ever bought on my own was size 6 ETT after EMT team did't have one and I got size 7 instead with following problems.

Oh well you can get great deals on ebay. And I am not crazy enough to buy stuff brand new. I particularly am quite interested in those older models like the Propaq Encore, and the newer Drager Infinity Delta monitors.

I bought a functioning AED off ebay last year and am quite happy with the purchase.

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Specializes in NICU.
I bought a functioning AED off ebay last year and am quite happy with the purchase.

For people that have a hard time waking up in the morning, attach it to your alarm clock and it will jolt you out of bed.

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Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

[quote=der_kerl;9693961

I bought a functioning AED off ebay last year and am quite happy with the purchase.

Honestly, what exactly you are going to do with it? Are you able to service it (I had one time in my past life use of poorly maintained AED, guess who got the shock)?

And, even if you can get it working properly, "saving someone's live" is WAY more than just shocking or even shocking + compressing + inflating lungs.

Not that it is my business how you spend your money, but I deal with patients who survived "field resuscitation" in the open field with BLS alone, and in most cases it is just a long and painful (and very expensive, in all senses) way to die.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

Settle down there Tactical Timmy

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I have a simple over the counter BP monitor for my husband who goes through obsessive compulsive phases over his blood pressure. I had to lie to him occasionally about the readings because if it was maybe 142/82 he'd be upset, have to re-take it, etc.

My aunt had a pulse oximeter the last year of her life. Just to check...."mom isn't looking well today, okay what his her O2....okay that's not bad, maybe she's just tired, etc." kind of like taking a temperature on a child who is looking or acting poorly.

I can't imagine the need for a vein finder at home? Are you going to start IV's on yourself or loved ones?

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Specializes in Oncology.
Hanging a banana bag after a wild night out.

You don't need a pump for that

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I love the idea of old IV poles for watering plants (I have a collection of some orchids that would appreciate drip watering.) Maybe I will see if I can get a few at a reasonable price (better than them ending up in a landfill.)

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Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
He has insomnia and wants a propofol drip,lol.

Conrad Murray, 'zat you???

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

I have known clients to go to eBay to buy suction machines, nebulizers, pulse oximeters, etc., to replace the ones they have. Equipment can wear out - or just plain break - and Medicaid will only buy new equipment every so many years. I think it's usually something like 5 years for a new suction machine.

They could simply buy another machine, private pay, through their medical supply company, but the cost is so high that many can't afford it. Some families with special needs kids have the money, or the education to hold a high-paying job, but many don't. They just do the best they can.

Often, when a special needs child becomes an adult their benefits are cut. They may still have the physician's order for a pulse Oximeter, for example, but Medicaid no longer pays for the probes. So the parents go online and try to locate probes that they can afford.

In answer to your question, no, I don't buy it for myself. But I do know many who do, and for good reason.

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Specializes in LTC, Rehab.

I'm not putting you down when I say this, OP, but you remind me of a guy whom I worked with at once place where I was a programmer who said he had 5-6 computers at home, a network, and who-knows-what more. My reaction to that was 'whaaaaaaat?'.

I didn't even want to buy a digital thermometer and a pulse oximeter, but I did because the place where I work has such crappy and often non-working vitals equipment. That's how much I'm into owning this stuff at home. :^)

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I bought several used IV and feeding pumps when I was keeping salt water fish tanks. Certain chemicals had to be added regularly, and the pumps were more precise.

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