If you could invent nursing supplies, what would it be?

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There are so many things in nursing that we use that could have been built or remodeled to better the quality and comfort of our patients. Personally, I hate gluing fecal pouches on pt's bottoms with fragile skin and breakdown. As soon as, the glue hit their skin they are squirming and screaming. Even with intubated pt's, you can tell its painful because their vitals start doing crazy things. I wish I could reinvent something more comfortable and easier to apply these where it would also be effective for the pt and for me. :twocents:

Specializes in ER.

I worked at a hospital with a tube system once and I LOVED it. If only we could stuff the patients in the tubes and fire them down to Xray or PT when ever they needed to go. THAT would be fun.

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After reading a thread about Dilaudid and all the problems with drug seekers, I want to invent the perfect pain med.

It would have no "high", be cheap to produce, have minimal side effects, to potential for abuse or addiction, work better than narcotics and be available in many forms.

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.
A couple of posters mentioned wireless pulse oximeters- I have one. It's small, and hangs on a lanyard. I bought it on amazon.
Ahh, but does yours transmit wirelessly to the nurses/monitoring station too? ;)

(Yes, I know the type you're talking about. Our RTs carry it around as well - it's like a finger clip-on thingie)

a tube system throughout the hospital to send specimens, obtain drugs, etc...
You mean y'all don't have a tube system??!! :eek:

antimicrobial foley - to stop those nasty bladder infections.
The newer Bard foleys have a variety of coatings that help avoid/reduce CAUTIs.

I worked at a hospital with a tube system once and I LOVED it. If only we could stuff the patients in the tubes and fire them down to Xray or PT when ever they needed to go. THAT would be fun.
:yeah:

I'd like to see:

* Wireless monitors, leads, EKGs

* Voice-activated charting system - bonus points if the access interface is something small and light (and wireless! Like the Bluetooth handsfree headsets for cellphones...)

* EZ-IV ... like EZ-IO -

Bonus points if the device can analyze the vein and/or select/suggest the guage of the catheter that will fit without risk of blowing the vein when accessed... (can you tell I've been having a bad run of IV starts lately?)

* Monitors/defribilators/crash-carts which self-test themselves regularly and beep/alarm when there is a fault. Bonus points if the machines self-send an email/notice to the appropriate department/employee with the nature of the fault so that they can come fix it (getting sick and tired of BP cuffs and pulse ox meters being non-functional when you need 'em the most i.e. your pt. is circling the drain and needs to be intubated now...)

* A TRULY paperfree system - all signatures and charts electronic. No more freaking chasing paper charts/parts of charts/missing parts of charts etc.

* A robot that undresses pts. and puts them in a gown as soon as they arrive in the ED exam room.

* Beds/stretchers which have a "cut away" to insert bedpans at a level just below the pts. bottom - no more "I missed the pan" and messy linen changes.... or struggling to maneuver the 460 lbs pts. to get that pan under them...

* You know how some homes have beds that fold into the wall? I'd like to see a similar contraption for bedside lift aide machines - in every room. Speaking of rooms - how about bigger rooms and wider/spacious passageways/doors... period!

* Lighter IV pumps with better battery life. Actually, make that lighter equipment in general with better batter life.

Neat thread :)

cheers,

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Specializes in ER.

Rooms where you strip the bed, shut the door and push a button, and everything gets sprayed with hot water and soap, like a dishwasher. The light goes back on and it's clean and ready to use. Those would work great with long term patients, the rooms never get entirely cleaned out. We could pack them up once a week, sit them in the hall for 30 minutes, and the room would be sparkling.

Or we could leave the patient in there too, with a snorkel. :D

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Specializes in LTC.

^They have public toilets in Paris that do that!

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Specializes in Making the Pt laugh..
^They have public toilets in Paris that do that!

Wouldn't catch me in there with a snorkle!!!

How about a lie detector that sends electric shocks to the Pt when they BS. I mean, when I ask how much you drink I want to know realy, not a conservative figure that is nowhere near the truth. I want to know what realy happened to your arm not some heroic/less embarrasing story.

How about a GPS sensor/alarm for charts so that when the Dr/allied health professional or any other interested party take the charts for longer than 3/60 it sends an alarm as well as GPS co-ordinates to the nursing station so we can retrieve them and continue with our obs/meds/charting/handover/......

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Specializes in Medical, Paeds, Ob gyn, NICU.
An infusion pump that knows the difference between a piggyback and the main IV fluids. So that when I forget to unclamp the piggyback, it TELLS me and doesn't pretend like it's running the piggyback when it's really running the main IV fluid.

Come to Australia

We have those here :yeah:

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Tape that sticks when and where you need it to but releases wo pulling hair or skin when you need to take it off. Sort of in the same vein as those yellow sticky notes!

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Okay, back the the Ativan mist system. How about a dispenser for whatever your need might be...sorta like a gumball dispenser. Prozac, Ativan, Klonopin,

and have it put right at the nurses break room.

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They just recently introduced Rectal/Fecal tubes in our facility. Supposed to work like a foley, with a balloon that needs to be inflated to keep it in place.

We call those "booty bags" lol we LOVE booty bags when it's a difficult pt to give a bath!

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Specializes in Making the Pt laugh..
Tape that sticks when and where you need it to but releases wo pulling hair or skin when you need to take it off. Sort of in the same vein as those yellow sticky notes!

While we are at it, how about removing the tendency to stick to itself or your gloves and nothing else. I hate the IV dressings we have at the moment, they seem magnetised to themselves and curl into a spiral with only a small bit of sticky for your glove.

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Specializes in ER.

How about a GPS sensor/alarm for charts so that when the Dr/allied health professional or any other interested party take the charts for longer than 3/60 it sends an alarm as well as GPS co-ordinates to the nursing station so we can retrieve them and continue with our obs/meds/charting/handover/......

OMG! We totally need one of those for stethoscopes!!

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