Do nurses use their wristwatch in real life nursing?

[northmississippi]

In class so far, we have used a watch for vitals and IV drip per minute counting.

Do real life nurses use their watches alot for stuff like that?

Thanks.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

For drips? Maybe in some areas where you don't use pumps? I haven't used my watch for drips in ages, but I use it to tell basic time, lol, and also for pulse/RR taking.

[bagladyrn, RN]

What would you use instead? Really - not every room has a clock on the wall in a place you can easily see it.

[tntrn, ASN, RN]

Yes, every day.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

Constantly.

[0402]

I use mine every single shift I work- resp rate, apical pulse and the one I do over and over and over again- IVP meds that require slow pushes of anywhere from 1- 5 minutes (lots of iv narcotics, benadryl, phenergan, zofran, etc).

[noahsmama]

I used my wrist watch every single day when I worked in a hospital -- as others have said, not for drip rates, since all of our IV fluids and meds were given through a pump, but for heart and breathing rates, or on the rare occasions when I pushed an IV med to make sure I was pushing it slowly enough. Every room had a clock with a second hand, but you couldn't always position yourself to see the clock and the patient too. It was debilitating on those rare days when I forgot to put on my watch before I left home.

On some units you won't be allowed to wear a watch though. I did my nursing school preceptorship in NICU, and there, for infection control reasons, you're not allowed to wear anything below the elbow -- the NICU had even more clocks on the wall than most other units though, so usually you could position yourself to see the clock when necessary.

[ninjago]

In class so far, we have used a watch for vitals and IV drip per minute counting.

Do real life nurses use their watches alot for stuff like that?

Thanks.

No, only fake nurses do it...just kidding!

We use IV pumps so it's been awhile since I counted drips. I hook pts in monitor for vitals so unless I'm giving cardiac meds like digoxin, I get apical heart rate and use my wristwatch. Giving IV meds, on the other hand, I use my watch to make sure I don't push certain IV meds too fast, but mixing them with NSS usually alleviates the over 1 min rule. I use my watch to get the time I give meds, start time for IV infusion, etc, etc. for charting purposes. Particularly if I cannot chart the procedure right away. I note the time so I can remember it. But you do need a good wristwatch with second hand, if you ask me.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Before it died, yes, I used it every day. I still think it's more convenient to have a wrist-watch for such things as not all rooms have clocks and not all rooms with clocks have functioning clocks. We do have timers on our thermometers and on our monitors ["case" time which we use primarily to time seizures] but I prefer a watch.

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

I use my watch every day. Mostly for resps or AP. I also refer to it when I'd like to know the time.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Whenever you administer digoxin, their pulse is checked prior to giving the drug. Many people are on digoxin where I work. Yes, every day.

[northmississippi]

This helps me pick out the watch I want to buy for nursing, its a citizen bm8180 and it had big dail with numbers, a red minute hand, and 24 time as well. A fellow student nurse showed me his and its perfect for nursing. Citizen Eco-Drive Mens Railroad Approved Watch - White Dial - Stainless Steel BM8180-54A if you want to see it. It's a "railroad watch" also.