Is my nursing program "rockin' it old-school"? because...

elkpark · Mar 12, 2010

Well, one reason it works that way in every school is that learning to calculate drip rates, etc., is the same anywhere you go (and plenty of schools won't let you use calculators -- I'm v. alarmed to hear there are nursing students "out there" who don't know their basic multiplication tables ...), but every facility uses different pumps/devices. There's no point in the school going to the expense of having pumps, etc., in labs because, as soon as you go to clinical, you'll be confronted with a different pump. And the next clinical rotation you have at a different hospital, they'll be using different pumps than the ones you just got used to -- and so on, and so on.

And I have had to calculate and regulate IVs by gravity and counting at times in my career -- and the time that you need to do it is not the time to try to figure out how. :)

Guest233447 · Mar 12, 2010

Ok.. good to know. Trust me I was very alarmed too. The "pass" for the calc exams is 90% though, so they're learning fast. LOL "Kids these days" are allowed to use calculators in about grade 5 so they really come to rely on them and basic long division/multiplication is becoming a lost skill. LOL

Fiona59 · Mar 12, 2010

Hate to tell you this but in AHS there aren't enough pumps for every patient. We get patients back on gravity all the time. Within the last two years there was even a memo telling us that most patients can manage without a pump. Yup KVO without a pump, antibiotics (many) without a pump, gravol,maxeran, zofran pumpless. Insulin, heparin, etc. with a pump.

The pumps in use breakdown, need extensive cleaning. Heck send a pump with the patient to the OR and you'll never see it again. The vast bulk of patients are saline locked pdq. So the pumps are really only for TPN, Insulin, monitored input patients.

In an ideal world there would be a SmartPump (current brand in use) for every patient. The reality is gravity.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 12, 2010

Yes in an ideal world a pump would be nice however you still need to know how to do it for when a pump is not available for what ever reason, could be power failure and back up generator is only to be used for certain equipment, there could be a fault with the pump you are using and you can't delay treatment whilst sorting a new pump out (may have to beg borrow or steal another one and that can take time) etc

When I worked on the wards a few years ago in the UK there was no way we had enough pumps for everyone that was on IV therapy so a lot was done by gravity

RGN1 · Mar 12, 2010

We hardly used pumps in the UK either - just had enough for the really important things like insulin & the such! :-D I'm now a proficient pump user here in Canada & am not sure my calculating skills are as good as they used to be on that front!!

MPKH, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2010

While I have not encountered gravity IV drips in a clinical setting so far, I believe learning how to do things the "old school" way is beneficial. What if the pumps break down? What if you run out of pumps? It's the same with learning how to take vital signs manually--I've seen many students struggle when they're handed with a manual cuff and stethoscope.

Guest233447 · Mar 14, 2010

I'm a bit sad we won't be doing pressures manually - I'm a star on that front. LOL

I'm glad to hear that it's a good skill to learn (calculating drip rates, etc) I just had wondered why the "older nurses" were reminiscing about skills I'm just learning as if they never use them anymore!

JenniferSews · Mar 14, 2010

I walked in to my first "real" nursing job this morning and as the only RN was asked to d/c a vanco drip within 10 minutes of getting on the floor. I walked in to find it hanging to gravity. I almost fell over, I completely dismissed the usefulness of counting drips, etc. I had to look it up again when I got home.

K+MgSO4, BSN · Mar 14, 2010

trust me as others have said technology breaks down!! and only does as it is told a pump cant think for itself! Plus there is always one pump that just constantly beeps and while some nurses might spend all shift flushing the line and silencing the beep I would be more inclined to let the fluid ( if not containing K+ TPN Insulin, heparin or some really toxic drugs such as gent and vanc) run to gravity. however my hosp policy is anything going into a central line has to have a pump so a bit of swapping and stealing is sometimes required! Just remember to check the bag every so often and if you have a time strip slap it on! or just read from the measurements printed on the bag.

Where can you find out how many drops per ml your IV set gives?? The back of the packaging!!

morte, LPN, LVN · Mar 14, 2010

frankly, i think the pump thing is over done.....and we were taught to time tape even the pumps, because they arent perfect. another charge to the patient, i suspect....

Fiona59 · Mar 14, 2010

frankly, i think the pump thing is over done.....and we were taught to time tape even the pumps, because they arent perfect. another charge to the patient, i suspect....

What do you mean "another charge to the patient"?

We are Canadians with universal healthcare. We don't send the patient a bill for each bag of fluid, box of kleenex, etc.

Now do you want to talk cost of PICC lines to the healthservice??