Electronic MAR?

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Specializes in ICU.

We are about to get an Electronic MAR. Does anyone have any insight or experience with them? We were told that if our medications are not given on time, the cart will lock. My personal belief is that the medications can not, and will not be given with in the two hour window. Do they reduce patient/nurse ratio's? Thanks guys.

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

We went to two med carts several years ago on our largest units when the DOH realized that there was no WAY we could be compliant (44 beds-one med nurse.It was harsh!) It's do-able now-I was alone on a 22 bed unit today and (with no interruptions) was able to get done in little over and hour and a half.It was heaven....

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We are about to get an Electronic MAR. Does anyone have any insight or experience with them? We were told that if our medications are not given on time, the cart will lock. My personal belief is that the medications can not, and will not be given with in the two hour window. Do they reduce patient/nurse ratio's? Thanks guys.

How does that work exactly? If the cart locks?

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

I can't quite picture what you mean. Is it a big cart with a lot of meds in it that you have to enter and choose? Or is a computer that brings up the patients' profiles and then you go get the meds?

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Specializes in Vascular Neurology and Neurocritical Care.

It's like a computer on a wheel and also has drawers that are organized by room number. You take the meds out of the pyxis and put in the drawer. You can lock the cart with a code. At our hospital when we are late, the computer will say "you are 1 hour and 9 minutes late. Still give the med?" You click yes or no and it charts the information for you. Other info you still have to chart yourself. If we are late it doesn't lock us out, just charts that the med was administered late. It is a really great provision because it allows you to see when everything is due all together in a visual format and also when labs are drawn, etc. Electronic is the way to go!

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Specializes in Mental Health, Medical Research, Periop.

Yes, I think electronic is good - took some getting use to after using the MAR (med book) for years (in LTC). When I started at a hospital, when we scanned the bracelet the drawer would pop open, then you would scan each drug and if you were late you had to give a reason why (computer was attached to top of cart). The pharmacy actually filled the drawers where I worked, they also had robots so if a med was missing from the drawers, robots delivered it. Talking about high tech! yeesh! I think its great though to cut down on med errors, because meds due would be highlighted. I liked it.

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It's like a computer on a wheel and also has drawers that are organized by room number. You take the meds out of the pyxis and put in the drawer. You can lock the cart with a code. At our hospital when we are late, the computer will say "you are 1 hour and 9 minutes late. Still give the med?" You click yes or no and it charts the information for you. Other info you still have to chart yourself. If we are late it doesn't lock us out, just charts that the med was administered late. It is a really great provision because it allows you to see when everything is due all together in a visual format and also when labs are drawn, etc. Electronic is the way to go!

Oh, ok. My hospital has these too, just not with the med drawers in the ED, obviously. But I have no idea if they keep track of when the meds are given with the ones on the floors. I wonder if it's built in to the computer, or if it depends on your charting software. I'm curious now; I'll have to try and remember to find out.

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Specializes in LTC.
We are about to get an Electronic MAR. Does anyone have any insight or experience with them? We were told that if our medications are not given on time, the cart will lock. My personal belief is that the medications can not, and will not be given with in the two hour window. Do they reduce patient/nurse ratio's? Thanks guys.

I know in my facility they wouldn't be given in the 2 hour window. The med cart would then lock at 5:30 and .. 5.. maybe only 10 residents would have gotten their meds then. 3pm-4:30pm is madness. We get started usually around 4 but interruptions are frequent.

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.

Love the eMAR--I have worked with both paper MARs and and eMAR in the hopsital setting....eMAR is way better for many reasons.

The cart will lock when you are out of the window for passing meds? I can't really put myself in the LTC midset, but what purpose does this serve? Sounds kinda dangerous to me (again, this is from the hospital perspective when non-narcotic PRN meds were kept in the med cart).

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Specializes in LTC.

It's well known on this site that LTC med passes are horrendous. Meds are given late frequently just because there is so many people. If our carts locked us out after our time window, we would be up a creek.

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We have eMar with a digipen. I love it!!! Yes technically the pharmacy knows what time each med is given...however, we are not locked out or in trouble if meds arent given at the exact time. We can also reorder meds just be signing our name below the med and 45 minutes before the end of shift we get a printout with any signatures we missed and all the prn administered to be sure we charted effectiveness. The benefits far outweigh the negatives :)

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no lock out we have 2 hours to give, but at times we cant get it done, also you can forget to sign for a drug so at the end of shift we check for reds(outstanding) i wish we could reorder drugs from the mar

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