IV pump placement/Room set up

[TulsaTime]

I have a question for eveyrone. It seems like a silly issue to me but it's causing some problems in our unit. Which side of the bed should IV pumps and transducers be placed on?

We have a new unit with great huge rooms so space is not an issue. The tradition in this hospital has been that the ventilator always goes under the monitor and the IV pumps always go on the other side of the bed (due to space issues int he old unit).

I and several others disagree with this practice as it many times leads to lines being run across the patient (in a neuro icu) so there's a bigger risk of lines being pulled out by patients, extension tubings that descrease the accuracy of your #'s, etc.

I am looking for information to support either practice as I would like to get this settled once & for all. Does anyone have any suggestions about where I might look for research to support either practice? What do you do in your units?

[Beentheredonethat]

I like keeping pumps behind the head of the bed. Keep the vent to the pt's left and a little behind. Like you noted, harder for them to find the tubes and pull em out. Gives visitors more space and easy access for the nurses too. if you got the space.

[Guest193822]

I love to hear that you don’t have a space issue, but at my hospital we don’t have that luxury. I work in very tight space. So comfort, safety & easy access is the rule for us.

Most of the time my IV pole is on the side of my IV access. My pole for my ventriculostomy is on the side of the bolt placement & my ventilator is usually on the side were it’s easy assess. The artic sun is at the foot of the bed & my codmen & licox at the side of the bed on a bedside table for easy viewing & documentation.

It really doesn’t matter what side you have it on. It’s the zeroing mark that counts for you measurements. IV poles have transducer holders allowing zeroing at the phlebostatic axis & our ventri poles allow use to transduce separately to the tragus. We even have tranducer holders for the arms for our open hearts or crash patients.

There’s limited but we try to make space enough for nurse, doctor & a visitor. But I make sure my numbers are right where ever they are placed at.

[wanderlust99]

the last place i worked, the pumps went on the opposite side of the vent, same side as monitor (which is above the pumps). you needed enough room to get to the vent, which is important

but if space is not an issue, i always prefer my pumps on the same side as my central line, less chance of all those lines tugging at the insertion site.

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

Our vents go to the left (under monitor). Our IV pumps go on the side of IV access. Our EVD poles go to the side of EVD. Our rooms can get kind tight, but I like the IV pole/pump on the access side.

[bellehill, RN]

I always put the IV pole on the side of the access, the vent on the opposite side as the pole if possible. My ventric transducer goes on the side of the access, the bolt monitor can go at the head of the bed. More important to me is knowing which lines I can push something through. All my IV lines are labeled with what is infusing and my pumps are marked with the name of the drug so I or someone else can know quickly where to push meds. Also, the ventric tubing is always, always, always on top of everything else so it doesn't get "lost" or mistaken for something else.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

We aren't given a choice of where our IV poles go. All of our bedsides are set up exactly the same; our monitors are wall-mounted on elbows that allow some swiveling from side to side and some back and forward motion but very little movement up or down. The head of the bed goes under the monitor (which caused a huge problem recently when it was discovered than most of our monitor mounts weren't properly secured and monitors were actually falling onto the beds underneath them...) as far as possible because of our desperate space limitations. The vent goes to the right of the bed as looked at from the foot, and the IV pole goes on the left. EVDs and Caminos are on their own pole and they get crammed in between the bed and the IV pole. It makes NO difference where the lines are sited or where the bolt is placed. We only have one ancient cooling device that takes up as much room as a shopping cart and it goes at the foot or behind the head of the bed if the patient is in one of our five high-acuity beds that have a corridor behind them. We make the best of it.

[HezzRN]

Our monitors are mounted over the pts head but can be pulled slightly down and to either side. I always have my IV pumps on the side of my access, I keep the ventic drain also on the side of the drain. Our computers are on the right side of the pt, again mounted on the wall. Our sinks and supplies are also usually on the right by design as well, so by default the vent in to the left of the pt (when at the foot of the bed, looking at the pt). You always have to walk around our bed to get to the vent.