IV pumps beeping during report,

Published

Specializes in Med/Surge, Private Duty Peds.

:angryfire:angryfirehere goes, during report time the day shift charge nurse is on the floor and suppose to be there in case something goes wrong or a pt needs help while all of the other nurses are giving report.

i come out of report and the charge nurse says" your pump down in room xyz is beeping and sucking air you need to check on it"

excuse me, but if she knew it was sucking air, why didn't she do something about it instead of waiting on me to come out of report?:madface:

so i go check the pump and guess what i find, the fluids switched over to a new bag and the pump beeping due to air in the line. ok, i checked that bag before shift change, had 100ml's in it and was going at 50mls/hr, time checked was 6:30 am so that means it could run another 1 1/2 because i reprogrammed it at 85mls to prevent this type of thing happening, i can't stand to find a pump with an empty bag , when i hang a new 1000cc's i always put in 985cc's to keep the bag from going dry.

this same nurse is always telling the night shift nurses you pt, pump, etc, needs blah, blah, and nothing gets said or done about it.

this same nurse is also known for saying" i was only hired to pass out prn meds and make the docs happy":uhoh3:

i am so tired of coming out of report and hearing this. what you you guys do in the situation?:uhoh21:

don't get me wrong, i don't mind helping out, but when the day shift nurses don't get to work till 0700 ( suppose to be ready for report at 6:45) and don't come out of the report room till 7:45 or later, who is there to look out for the pts? not the day shift charge nurse!!

i and the other nurses have completed report and are on our way out the door when this crap happens. no use talking to our nurse manager, she thinks everyone should get along and things are to be happy and smooth running.:angryfire

thanks for listening and any advice !

nurse hobbit

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Well, I would program the pump for 900cc, not 985 and I would hang a new bag before the next shift came on if it only had 100 cc in it. I wouldn't want to be coming on shift and have a pump beeping because the bag only had 15 cc in it and have to run and get a new bag from somewhere.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I find Charge Nurses a problem EVERYWHERE. They're role needs to be redefined. If your nurse manager is no help (go to her first anyway), you have to go above her.

Sounds like your reports are taking wayy too long. Our shifts start at 7am, we do report from 7-730am.

The charge nurse should definitely pitch in and help if they can.

For the record, i program the pump for 900 too and change it if there is less than 200 left when I do my final rounds.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg/Tele/ER.

I try to always make sure I have plenty of fluids before end of shift. I simply detest to come in & have little to no fluids. We start report at 0645 and are usually done by 0700 unless something goes really wrong. We take care of our pt's during report. We also give report face to face....I always try to have a report sheet made for the oncoming nurse just to speed things up.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER/EHR Trainer.

I have made it a habit that when I hang fluids (ER) I always bring two into room and place on pole. I was taught that as a nurse extern, if you have to make one trip, keep it one...for yourself and your relief. Not everyone feels that way, but that's the way I work. Although I have recently been letting new shift pickup tasks that were not completed-we have an hour overlap. In the past, I never asked for help and worked my tail off. As I was recently told by another nurse-Nursing is a 24 hour a day job-now, I still try to have all tasks complete, but if I can't I no longer feel bad.

Anyway, back to your original posting-that charge nurse should have addressed the situation-she sounds like an idiot. In our hospital, no one is supposed to leave a call bell unanswered. Your patient or not.

Maisy;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.

As a patient, I have had pumps beeing for as long as fifteen minutes before someone has come to check it, even when I've pushed the call light. I rarely have hgad to have an IV restarted because of this, generally a flush takes care of it.

Woody:balloons:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Utilization Management.

Frankly, it sounds like the Unit Manager needs to have a chat with day shift about coming in on time, and then you all need to get together and figure out a more efficient way to get Report done. 45 minutes for Report is just too long. It's a wonder anyone gets anything done.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
I have made it a habit that when I hang fluids. I always bring two into room and place on pole. I was taught that as a nurse extern, if you have to make one trip, keep it one...for yourself and your relief.

We were only allowed to take one bag at a time into the room. Reason is that the IV fluids could be DC'd or changed to a different fluid and the extra bag hanging could not be used on another patient once it had been in a room.

We used written reports so the off going nurses could remain on the floor to answer lights while we were taking report. We still had the same problem. We'd come out of report and pumps were beeping or very very low on fluids, rate supposed to be 125/hr yet set to 30/hr. Too lazy to get a new bag so they would just slow it down. :angryfire

It's a universal problem during shift change. I don't get it. When I'd clear my pumps I'd make sure there was at least 2 hours of fluids left or I'd go ahead and hang a new bag. Oh well, we can't all be so good!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Looks like I'm in the minority here - I put 1000 mls on the pump when I hang the bag. They all have overfill in them - up to 20%. I know that because our chemos NEVER finish on time because of it, and that's what the company we get our bags from said. Besides that, when I clear my pumps, I always make sure there are at least 2 hours of fluids left. If not, I hang a new bag, or at least stick a new one on the pole if I know it's going to run out fairly soon after shift change.

We tape report, and it goes from 3-3:30. What really gets me is while I'm listening (or even before I get in there!), people come in and tell me stuff. "Your new admission is here" - it's 2:45 and I'm not even on the clock yet!...or "Your guy in room whatever needs pain meds" - okay, well, the day shift RN is still out there and it's only 3:10...she's here till 3:30, go tell her about it! :angryfire I could go on...I try really hard not to leave anything for nights. I always feel bad for them, because they pick up as many as 8 pts at a time, and they don't need to be cleaning up after me. Have I ever left something that I couldn't get done? Sure, but not too often. I don't want to dump on days and say they are all bad - it's just a select few who don't seem to care what they leave, and make no effort whatsoever to make things easier for the oncoming shift. I hate that!!! Sorry....I think I got a little off topic. I'm tired!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
:angryfire:angryfirehere goes, during report time the day shift charge nurse is on the floor and suppose to be there in case something goes wrong or a pt needs help while all of the other nurses are giving report.

so let me get this straight, the charge nurse is suppose to take care of every patient on the entire floor while the nurses are in report? how is that even possible? i don't know how many beds you have on your unit, but there are 50 on mine. some nurses ramble on for 20-30 minutes giving/getting report. there is no way i would expect any nurse to cover that massive workload for any amount of time. i am a fill in charge nurse (and i detest it). if not for my great unit, i would look for another job just to get away from doing it. why? because some people think the charge nurse's job is to do anything the nurse doesn't want to do. i do all the hard sticks/ iv's and lab draws. anyone knows that finding a vein on a veinless pt can take over 30 mintues sometimes. imagine doing that for 4 of your nurses per night. angry family members? talk to the charge nurse. angry doctors? talk to the charge nurse. a stat ct scan? ask the charge nurse to take them down in a stretcher and sit with them for 30 minutes. a demented patient tries to crawl out of bed? stick her in the geri chair next to the charge nurse so she can take care of her. in addition to this, charge nurses have to keep track of the admissions (we have 10 or 12 a night) and do staffing for the next shift, meanwhile, trying to take care of her own patients. i understand that my job is my job and i will do it. but i get really burned when people can't understand that the charge nurse is not superwoman. i can do a hundred different tasks in a night and still get complaints that i didn't do a hundred and one. all nurses know how important it is to get a routine down so you can be efficient on your shift, right? the charge nurse has no routine because she has problems thrown at her left and right with no warning and everyone wants them tended to immediately. it is chaos to be in charge. who steps up and helps the charge nurse when she is running behind on her own lab draws because she has helped everyone else with theirs? nobody. they are all walking to their cars complaining about what a lazy cow the charge nurse is. wow! what a rant! can you tell i just got home from work?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surge, Private Duty Peds.

to begin with, i always take another bag of fluids in the room around 6:30 when making my final rounds before shift change. there was another bag of fluids ready to hang when the old bag was finished.

it just gripes me that even when in report this nurse will call to ask the most stupidest questions.

we all have been to the nurse manager over and over again about day shift showing up at 7 and not getting out of report till 745 or later.

the thing is our nurse manager doesn't get to work till 9 am or later and really dosen't care.

back to the iv fluids, when i first come on shift at 11pm. make my rounds and assessments, i take fluids with me so that i don't have to run back and forth down the hall.

also, i can't stand to go in a room and have no fluid or a small amount left. i always make sure that there are plenty of fluids when i leave.

it's funny how our shift can have everything complete and ready to go by the day time,yet there are few of us. oh well not everyone has the greatest of work ethics.

thanks fo allowing me to vent and thanks for all the advice.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surge, Private Duty Peds.

[.

Anyway, back to your original posting-that charge nurse should have addressed the situation-she sounds like an idiot. In our hospital, no one is supposed to leave a call bell unanswered. Your patient or not.

Maisy;)

:lol2:Then understatement of the year. This same nurse spends up to 20 minutes making shift assignments and get this ask what is 6/24?:uhoh3::uhoh3:

never ending story with her.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion