....and they had Dynamaps in every room!! (a nurse has gotta dream!)

[Walden-Puddle, RN]

Is it too much to ask? I mean seriously!! How much time have you WASTED running around your unit looking for a (working!) vitals signs machine each week. Does management not get it? Not to mention the infection issues dragging a machine from room to room using the same blood pressure cuffs etc.

Anyways... Not only do I think there should be a dedicated unit for each room, but (and I'm going out on a limb here folks..so get ready to catch me!) I think they should be built into the darn beds..or at least attachable to the beds (Can I get an Amen!)

I know. I know. I'm dreaming. It's too much to ask. Go ahead. Hit me with all the negativity and "reality" you care to. But a nurse has gotta have a dream!!

[AprilRNurse]

Our hospital just got approved by the fund raising dept for this!! We are SO excited about it. Not only will we have mounted VS machines in each room- why will hook into the computer system so the infomation can be pulled in with a few clicks of the computers!

[Up2nogood RN, RN]

Yes it does exist, dynamaps with pulse ox in each room with a rainbow of assortment of different size cuffs. The drawback is that you could probably touch each side of the room if you stretch your arms out from your sides. My closet at home is bigger than the pt rooms, and that's why it's only per diem

[drmorton2b]

It is shocking how even the most advanced hospital units in my area do not have Electronic Blood Pressure machines available and Manual BP machines. Lets not even talk about Temp and Pulse Ox machines... since in most cases they are part of the missing Electronic BP Machines. (Welch Allyn, etc,).

No big deal. I will just use the BP Cuff on the wall. Manual BPs I trust more. Oh.. NO Cuff on the wall.. So I get a cuff and then the Bulb (to pump up the BP Cuff doesn't work).

I'm good at vitals but not good enough to take a Pulse Ox or Temp. without equipment..

Things have gotten cheaper medical equipment wise.

What irks me is how can someone document a BP, Temp or Pulse Ox if no machines are available!

Rant off.

[skiban]

Right now my dream is for a job!

[stressednurse70]

CArdiacmedaline, Oh you are a lucky one!! I ended up buying my own Pulse Ox for same reason - I can't find one when I need it! Now other nurses try to borrow mine. I don't think so! Buy your own I tell them. Might not be a friendly response but when this gadget is more than a car payment, I am not letting it out of my sight!

[noahsmama]

am I the only one who doesn't care for automatic BP machines? At one place I worked, the nurses depended on them so much, even using the results for the heart rate. How can you tell the quality of the pulse if you never feel it? The machines don't tell you if the HR is irregular or difficult to feel.

And I've had my own BP taken with a dynamap and there's been a significant difference between that and having it done manually.

At the facility I worked at, we would double check the automatic BP manually if the value was questionable. The values I got manually were generally quite close to the automatic value. Maybe it depends on the vintage of the automatic BP machines?

As for measuring HR manually vs. automatically, I always checked pulses and listened to the heart with my stethoscope during my initial assessment, but as long as it was regular I might just read it off the monitor for my next round of vitals.