Healthcare Facilities running out of medications + supplies

Nurses Safety

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We ran out of Fentanyl drips in the entire hospital a couple of days ago. With 24 patients in my unit alone on Fentanyl drips, mostly for vent sedation, I heard more vent alarms going off at once than I ever have because all of the patients were waking up simultaneously and feeling very uncomfortable. It was ridiculous. I now have to pose this question to the crowd...

What is the dumbest thing your unit has ever run out of? Did you cry, laugh hysterically, or both?

Specializes in Cardiac and Emergency Department.

1000ml Normal Saline bags. In the ER, (house-wide) actually. It was a hot mess. When I told the docs, in particular one who is known to give 3,000ml Normal Saline boluses to almost everyone (not dialysis patients), he was not happy-to put it lightly. I'm glad the shortage is over. We've also run out of blood culture bottles, IV start kits, urinals, and rape kits.

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We once ran out of 2cc syringes.

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Specializes in L&D, Women's Health.

Pitocin on our L&D floor for over a week. The OBs were hysterical . . . like a baby can't be born without pitocin and bleeding can't be stopped after delivery of placenta without pitocin? Geeze, what DID we do for thousands of years without PITOCIN? Peribottles, NS 500ccc bags. We've also had empty rooms without beds but at least our admin didn't try to admit anyone into them!

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We recently ran out of tissues... Which wasn't that bad until we had a hospice patient on the unit that passed away and we were unable to provide tissues to the many grieving family members. Our clerk said she was so embarrassed to have to hand them rolls of toilet paper as their loved one was dying. Just to top it off, the clerk notified our unit manager and she replied that she couldn't do anything about it and to ask the nursing supervisor to go to the grocery store to pick some up. How lame..

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Pitocin on our L&D floor for over a week. The OBs were hysterical . . . like a baby can't be born without pitocin and bleeding can't be stopped after delivery of placenta without pitocin? Geeze, what DID we do for thousands of years without PITOCIN? Peribottles, NS 500ccc bags. We've also had empty rooms without beds but at least our admin didn't try to admit anyone into them!

You do realize that babies were born for CENTURIES without the aid of Pitocin, don't you?

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Specializes in Medical Oncology, ER.

One of the floors at my facility ran out of patients

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.

A large hospital system with a huge oncology department ran out 5fu in 2011.

They switched many patients to Xeloda, much to the dismay of the patients because their insurance did not cover the bulk of the cost and they, in some cases, experienced more frequent and significant side effects.

Cancer Patients’ Dilemma: Expensive Pills Vs. Invasive Chemo Treatment | Kaiser Health News

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.

Dressing packs and gauze.

We had a numpty who was responsible for our ordering and somehow he managed to forget to order those nursing staples.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

What do you all know about a shortage of mag? The other night I was getting ready to cool my patient, and the MD hadn't included a mag gtt in the order set. I asked him about it, and he said there was a nationwide shortage of it right now, so we were going to try to avoid it. After he mentioned it, it occurred to me that none of my pts for this week were on the ICU mag replacement protocol. They were all on K and phos, but not mag.

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Specializes in L&D, Women's Health.
You do realize that babies were born for CENTURIES without the aid of Pitocin, don't you?

Um . . . my point exactly:)

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