Let's talk TRASH! Useless, outdated, OLD equipment or supplies on your unit, that is!

Nurses General Nursing

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What's the most useless piece of equipment or stocked supply in your facility or on your unit?

What would you replace it with?

I thought of this thread when I was drawing up a 3 cc NS flush and thinking about how much easier and safer the pre-filled syringes are. So I wish we had pre-filled syringes.

And those emesis basins! Have you EVER known anyone to actually hit the thing without splashing or spraying all over the place? Completely useless! How about some larger-sized (or disposable--even the baggie-type might work better) emesis basins!

"Old outdated physicians that need to go"--AMEN!!!! I have a couple old nurses that need to go too!!

Living on the mexican border, we donate old equipment, outdated supplies to one of the community ems staff. If you have old wheelchairs, suction machines, cables---try calling large equipment distributers or manufactures. Many of them like wheelchair vendors take a truckload of old equipment to third world a couple times a year where the equipment may not be at our standards but useful there.

Happy New Year!!

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Our E.D. still uses a pneumatic tube system ...like the tellers have at the drivethru at the bank...to send specimens to the lab. WHEN it works, half the stuff we need it for don't fit into the cartridge, i.e. blood culture bottles, specimen cups,etc. It never fails that the tube will hang up with the quick cath specimen you just collected from the septic baby! We usually just run the important stuff upstairs...not very efficient but better than having to recollect. A few months ago some motor on the thing burnt out and for 6 weeks we had to pull a crappy looking piece of cord to send the tube up and pull another cord so that the lab could send it down again. For some reason administration didn't like the staff's idea of just attaching a bucket to a rope outside of the lab's window and pulling it up instead - we didn't see that it was so very much different than what we had!

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Our E.D. still uses a pneumatic tube system ...like the tellers have at the drivethru at the bank...to send specimens to the lab. WHEN it works, half the stuff we need it for don't fit into the cartridge, i.e. blood culture bottles, specimen cups,etc. It never fails that the tube will hang up with the quick cath specimen you just collected from the septic baby! We usually just run the important stuff upstairs...not very efficient but better than having to recollect. A few months ago some motor on the thing burnt out and for 6 weeks we had to pull a crappy looking piece of cord to send the tube up and pull another cord so that the lab could send it down again. For some reason administration didn't like the staff's idea of just attaching a bucket to a rope outside of the lab's window and pulling it up instead - we didn't see that it was so very much different than what we had!

OMG!!:lol2:

You've got me beat...I was going to nominate our old tile flooring. Recently, some of the tiles have started to break. Last time our housekeeper took the floor polisher to it, two tiles exploded, literally. Our poor housekeeper is thinking of wearing shin pads and safety googles. Big safety hazzard, but so far no news from admin for a new floor. :sniff:

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Lopressor 5mg IV is the worst...major skin lac waiting to happen

Waiting to happen? I was being rushed by the doc in the room and 2 other patients on the floor needing me, and the stupid thing wouldn't snap for some reason (probably because I was getting stressed about it!) Once it finally did, the alcohol swab package I was using to hold it (which has otherwise always worked great) slipped and I sliced the top of a knuckle open. That thing was still bleeding through dressing after dressing when my shift ended 3 hours later. Finally got one of my friends to put such a tight dressing on that the tip of my finger turned blue before I took it off (stopped the bleeding though!)

It's not so much old equipment that gets me, it's not having what I need at all! Heck, nasal cannulas for babies having to be searched for when you've got a baby desatting to the low 80s. Every Sunday night it's a floor to floor search for piggyback tubing. And goodness, if you need traction equipment, it's a floor to floor search for enough stuff to rig up a close proximity to what you actually wanted.

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When I worked in surgery at my old hospital we did a clean-up of the department. Stocked away in the back corner of one of our supply closets we ran accross 30cc medicine cups and UA containers made out of thick heavy glass. We quickly divided them up between us and it was "EBAY here we come!"

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Specializes in Emergency, Orthopaedics, plastics.
I wish we could get rid of those glass ampules you have to break the top off to get to the med. Why DO certain meds still only come in that kind of packaging? There must be a reason.

There is actually a very valid scientific reason why some medicines still come in glass ampules.

Basically some of the medications interact with plastic, affecting their chemical structure and long term viability...

The basis of the science (and you will have to forgive me if this is not quite right but im a nurse, not a chemist :uhoh3: ) is that plastic is an organic compound (They are composed of organic condensation or addition polymers) which means they can interact on the chemical level with their environment. This is not a consideration with plastic equipment becuase it can be made of tougher plastics with different additives (like silicone) that are more stable and resistant to environmental factors... but the plastic ampules are, by necesity thiner and easier to break, which means that their molecular structure needs to be less stable... which means it has a greater chance of interacting with the medications it is supposed to hold.

You dont get this problem with glass because it is a uniform amorphous solid that is essentially inert and quite strong.

If you really have that much trouble with them, try investing in an ampule opener... they take a little practice but on the unscored glass ampules, they really work.

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Specializes in floor to ICU.
The Hoya (sp?) Lifts....the poor patients dangle from a sling looking like a large wild animal that has been tranquilized and air lifted back to the wild.

:rotfl: now that's funny, right ther'

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
And goodness, if you need traction equipment, it's a floor to floor search for enough stuff to rig up a close proximity to what you actually wanted.

Heck, our ortho pts.' beds have the majority of it. Some of it will be used, not all of it though. It looks like they took the traction supply closet and hung it on the end of the bed. :stone

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Specializes in floor to ICU.

how about the glass bottles for lipids? that metal ring is like a razor-yikes! (do have to admit that recently we have been getting our lipids in regular IV bags...

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
how about the glass bottles for lipids? that metal ring is like a razor-yikes!

Almost forgot about that ring, it IS dangerous.

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Specializes in Internal Medicine Unit.

It's not so much old equipment that gets me, it's not having what I need at all! Heck, nasal cannulas for babies having to be searched for when you've got a baby desatting to the low 80s. Every Sunday night it's a floor to floor search for piggyback tubing. And goodness, if you need traction equipment, it's a floor to floor search for enough stuff to rig up a close proximity to what you actually wanted.

You must work in my facility!:rolleyes:

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documed, any one seen one! The pyxis of 1930!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! meds are in little envelopes and you use a prod thing to get them out

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