How do you store your inhalers/spacers???

[River Song, RN]

So tell me how you store your inhaler and spacer in your clinic!!!

I have a small locked medicine cabinet (smaller than what more people have over their sinks at home) on the wall where I put my oral meds. Then I have cabinets below the counter and above the counter as well as 4 drawer file cabinets.

Through much effort in calling clinics, I got spacers for almost all of my asthmatics (my population is PK-5th so spacers are a must!) so I'm storing the MDI and the spacer which for a couple of my little ones are spacers with a mask.

Currently, I use gallon sized storage bags with sliders on the top. I use a sharpie to write the last name in large block letters at the top of the bag and then I stand them up in rows in one of my cabinets. On the shelf I have a label in front of each row "Inhalers A-E" "Inhalers F-K" etc. to make it easier to find the inhaler you are looking for. I leave this cabinet unlocked and the outside of it is labelled "INHALERS" and my trained staff know where they are kept and my asthmatics can walk up and point to where it is as well.

Maybe this is the best I can do but I have some money left in my budget and was trying to decide if there is a better way???

I've seen what other district nurses do and they have these storage boxes with trays for their MDIs , but the tray is too small for the spacer so they have to store that separately. I've also seen on school nurse supply catalogs a wall mounted storage but it also requires spacers to be stored separately. I think it is important to keep the spacer with the MDI.

Thanks for all of your virtual help with your discussions this school year, it has made my first year bearable as I've learned FAR more here than from my department

[OldDude]

I have a metal cabinet with 5 shelves. I store PK and KG on the floor part of the cabinet and each grade level 1 thru 5 on each shelf accordingly. It's easier for me to work with grade level versus alpha order.

[Eleven011]

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I use something like this. I have it hanging on my wall under my med cabinets. I stick a name label on each pouch and then everything fits inside. Mine has a few more pockets, but you get the idea. My stock epi pens take up one pocket also.

[theyhaveapill]

In the various schools I sub at, three use the ziploc method with copies of doc orders and asthma action plan in the bag too.

One school has one of those craft carts with 20 drawers and each drawer has an asthmatic's Initials or sticker and their stuff is in the drawer.

One uses plastic shoe boxes and another uses those large plastic pencil cases.

Ikea sells a metal cabinet with multiple drawers for a low cost.

I like Eleven_011's idea too.

[Mango Juice]

Inhalers and spacers fit in a pencil box. (So do epi pens and diastat.)

[River Song, RN]

I have a metal cabinet with 5 shelves. I store PK and KG on the floor part of the cabinet and each grade level 1 thru 5 on each shelf accordingly. It's easier for me to work with grade level versus alpha order.

How do you actually store the items on the shelf though??

[River Song, RN]

Thanks for the ideas! Any more just keep them coming!!

I do like the hanging shoe/purse organizer idea ... i have plenty of open wall space.

I have a HUGE office but the storage was so ill designed. I have a row of fairly large cabinets above my counter but they are mounted really high, as in the bottom shelf is around my eyebrow level and I need a chair to get to the second shelf. All I can assume if that a very tall person designed them

The lower cabinets aren't as plentiful as under the counter there is a the undersink area, a refrigerator and an ice maker. So while I have this abundant cabinet storage, I can't reach over half of it.

I have a mostly empty 4 drawer file cabinet (only one drawer in use) and was also thinking of somehow storing them in there, I've seen plastic closed side expanding hanging folders and thinking I could pop a baggie, pencil bag or whatever and have each in a "file" in alpha or grade order.

I might look at an Ikea type cabinet as well, it's just about seeing who our preferred vendors are, getting three prices from different vendors yada yada yada

[OldDude]

How do you actually store the items on the shelf though??

I just spread them out in their containers, box, bag, or simply mdi with a RX label on it.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

When I worked per diem in the boarding school, we had a system like Eleven011. For EpiPens too. The child's picture was in the pocket along with their asthma or allergy action plan and the inhaler/EpiPen. I don't think Diastat went in it since it's a controlled substance though.

[aprilmoss]

I got a lot of Ziploc "shoebox" sized plastic boxes I put the kid's name on. Works well for most of them be it inhalers or diabetic's insulin and meter and stuff.

They all are in a cabinet I can lock up when I'm out of the office. The office secretary has a back up key to it.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

I also use a shoe organizer and it hangs on the back of one of my doors. In each slot, I put the inhaler and space in a plastic baggie. Baggie is labeled with student's name and homeroom. (As is the spacer, inhaler box, and inhaler itself - so many inhalers are identical!)

I take out the labled baggie and package that to travel on field trips.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

i keep mine in ziplocs in storage locker. i would actually like to move them, but i don't have the possibility of locking anything else in my office that can handle the space they take up. I like the idea of the organizer on the door, but think it would be too tempting for things to be touched should I not be in my office and another person cover my office while i'm at a meeting / emergency / lunch and unfortunately I don't have any closet doors