Ever caught a visitor playing with an IV pump??

bethin · Mar 17, 2006

We had a cardiac patient who started going downhill fast. The Dr. ordered him transferred out, and had us set up a dopamine drip. We were not to start it unless his heart started to fail. It was set up and everything was ready. All that was left to do was wait for the ambulance to arrive. The Dr. left and we went back to care for our other patients.
The patient's daughter comes back and told me "The nurse who set up the IV forgot to start it, so we started it ourselves."
Once the color returned to my face, I alerted the doctor and the other nurses. The doctor said to leave the drip running. Luckily he was transferred out without any problem.

What in God's name was this woman thinking? How did she know what rate to put it at? How did she know how to program it?

Did you tell the daughter what could have happened? I would have been so mad you would have had to peel me off the ceiling.

miss_fit · Mar 17, 2006

Bethin, I think you have the coolest avatar/pic I've ever seen!

jessica1983 · Mar 17, 2006

We use the Abbott Plum Pumps. I'll have to find out if we have a feature like this one them!!

We use them too. There is a lock somewhere on it, it's either towards the back or bottom. I've never found I needed to use it, so I'm not sure of it's exact location. It just bugs me how people think they know everything about healthcare and patient needs when they have no background or prior experience.

clc79092 · Mar 17, 2006

I had a doctor as a patient who decided to give himself a 1000 cc bolus of d5 1/2 ns with 20 of KCL. I just hung another bag and as I reset the correct rate I locked the pump. I then informed his doctor and documented what had happened. My patient was also on a pca and would speed up the iv rate so when he hit the button for another dose it would go in faster.. He was pissed when he could not manipulate the pump anymore.

jrring1019 · Mar 17, 2006

On a similar note, I had a doula who also claimed to be a L&D nurse at a different hospital shut off my warmer, o2 and suction for a delivery. According to her the pt wanted a natural delivery and these things were not needed at theat time. The kid was fine, but I was MAD that a *nurse* would even touch my stuff!These things are always set up "just in case" so you don't have to fumble with it when you get a noodle baby who needs some help.

purplemania, BSN, RN · Mar 17, 2006

Heavens yes. I used to work on Pedi's and caught teens messing with the pumps all the time. They got wise to the lock buttons. One wanted the prescribed morphine bolus administered close to the IV site. I refused and injected in a port near the top of the tubing. She then leaned over and increased the rate to get a buzz faster. I yanked the pole back and set the rate again then stayed in the room for several minutes. You would have blushed to hear her foul mouth. 15 yr/old

Also caught a kid rummaging through the sharps box looking for needles. May I add that all the needles in the box had NOT been used on him??

been there · Mar 17, 2006

The other night I caught a teenage visitor pressing the "silence" button on the IV pump because (in his words: "It was annoying!"). I explained to him that the when the alarm goes off I need to come in the room to figure out why it was beeping in the first place. The visitor argued with me about it and said that he has done it before and the other nurses didn't say anything!! I told him that he is not allowed to touch the pump and to call me if it ever beeps. There's more to come later....
What would YOU do??

Got in trouble big time once. MD ordered a change in the flow rate of a regular IV, which I did, and documented, and told the on-coming shift about. I went home and was called about three hours later. When I got there I was in big trouble with the MD. The med had not been delivered as ordered, was too slow. I was blamed but I informed him I had changed the rate to his order, documented it, informed the on-coming shift. I was sent home. Later that night, it was learned from the patient that a visitor, who was a nurse, had slowed the IV telling him it was going in too fast and would irritate his veins. My reprimand was removed from my records but I never was given an apology from the MD, who was the one the patient told what happened. The lesson I learned was to have the on-coming nurse for that patient check the flow rate with me and document it before I left the floor.

justavolunteer · Mar 17, 2006

I have had nurses ask me to hit the 'silence alarm' button on IV pumps if the pt. is really upset about the noise. The IV pump still displays it's problem message, but the beeping will stop for appx. 2 minutes, and then resume. Seeing as I'm 'justavolunteer', I wouldn't think of trying to change the settings on hospital equipment of any type. I can't imagine why visitors would think it is OK.

RN5000 · Mar 17, 2006

I had a doctor as a patient who decided to give himself a 1000 cc bolus of d5 1/2 ns with 20 of KCL. I just hung another bag and as I reset the correct rate I locked the pump. I then informed his doctor and documented what had happened. My patient was also on a pca and would speed up the iv rate so when he hit the button for another dose it would go in faster.. He was pissed when he could not manipulate the pump anymore.

No lock on the pca? ours are enclosed in a plastic case that requires a key. cant imagine it any other way.

nursejohio, ASN, RN · Mar 17, 2006

No lock on the pca? ours are enclosed in a plastic case that requires a key. cant imagine it any other way.

I've heard of patients with kvo NS hitting the pca button a few times, then turning up NS rate to get all the PCA doses in a rush. I think that's what she was talking about

KYnightnurse · Mar 18, 2006

I work in pediatrics (but not a PICU). When I start IVF's on a pt. I show the parents where the Alarm Silence button is located. I've learned over the years if I don't show them, they start pressing all the buttons, inevitably turning off the pump. I also explain that I will try to reset the pump before it beeps (the parental fear being the beep will wake the child, also, where I work we aren't allowed to set the pump for the entire shift). I tell them if they silence the alarm they must call the desk and tell them the pump is beeping. I also tell them pushing any other buttons might mess up the IV and cause the child to get stuck again. I've never had any problems and the parents are grateful to know how to 'shut the machine up'. :)

firstaiddave907 · Mar 19, 2006

Why cant peopple just leave things alone maby u need to put a sing saying do not tuch the medical equpment in the room . i cant beleve an 18 year old would not know better i could undestand if he was 9 or 10 and didn not know better. I think if you do not know what ur doing do not tuch it.