Love or hate your IV pumps?

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Hi everyone,

My hospital is looking to order new IV pumps. Can you guys share what brand you are using, and anything good or bad about it? Spare no details! I'd love to hear thoughts on usage, maintenance, cost... any input will be very helpful.

Thanks much!

Steffi

Specializes in Rehab, critical care.

Alaris, love them! Easy to use, and don't have any issues with them. They'll occasionally ding air in line, but that's usually b/c there's air in the line (usually only small bubble), but still a good alarm to have lol.

So, love alaris!

Trained on plum pump in nursing school, and didn't like those as much.

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We use the Sigma Spectra pumps. I have a love/hate relationship with them.

The negatives: Too many steps to program them and we have had more than one error because of all the "ok" and "yes/no" selections required before the pump begins infusing. They are very sensitive to upstream occlusions that never actually seem to be present. They take up a lot more room than the stackable Baxter pumps. It gets way too busy with lines and pumps when infusing multiple gtts. Their alarms echo oddly so they hard to track down; even the company rep admitted this during our training. To me, they are noisy...the churning sound is quite distracting to me, but I'm overly sensitive to that type of noise.

Now the positive aspects: The drug library is extensive and since it is managed by our own pharmacy, the concentrations and rates match our protocol and policy; so if the RN takes the time to read the screen they can cut down on some errors (read above for issues with nurses in too big of a hurry). They are pretty to look at so that is a plus. They are lightweight and that is also an advantage over the 3 channel Baxter pumps. They clear "air in line" alarms much easier that the old Baxter's.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

We have the Alaris Smartpumps...they are great because your pharmacy can program the meds in with the guidelines and guardrails! the only complaint we have is that we do a lot of TPN windows and we can't program a step program in it like our other pumps had. And they can be updated remotely by wireless for any new meds etc.

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We use the Hospira Plum A pumps.

They're ok for simple stuff and are easy to use, but they only come in either a single pump (with 2 channels) or in a triple pump (with 6 channels).

The triples are huge and have to have a dedicated IV pole with a "Lily pad" to support them. Still not a big deal, but we can't travel with them because we can't take them off the poles and the poles won't fit into the elevators with the bed and two to three staff members.

I like the Alaris a lot too. Easy to use and I love how you can just slap another channel onto the side as needed. They are a lot less bulky than the Hospira.

I suspect however that they cost a bit more.

I heard that Hospira pumps beeps a lot. Not sure if that's true in your guys' experience?

Thanks much!

We have Alaris Medley. I love them. They are easy to use. Allow for multiple "modules" and can have preloaded drugs for different areas. They are picky about air in the line, which can be good or annoying. They have an easy PCA module and spo2 sensors.

I love them. As a cardiac nurse :)

Is the Alaris you are talking about by CareFusion or Cardinal? Actually, are they different from each other?

Thank you!!

Alaris, love them! Easy to use, and don't have any issues with them. They'll occasionally ding air in line, but that's usually b/c there's air in the line (usually only small bubble), but still a good alarm to have lol.

So, love alaris!

Trained on plum pump in nursing school, and didn't like those as much.

Sorry to ask you the same question here... Is the Alaris you are talking about CareFusion or Cardinal?

Can I ask what was wrong with the Plump pump (Hospira, right?) Details are helpful in convincing others on my team!

Thanks much.

We use the Sigma Spectra pumps. I have a love/hate relationship with them.

The negatives: Too many steps to program them and we have had more than one error because of all the "ok" and "yes/no" selections required before the pump begins infusing. They are very sensitive to upstream occlusions that never actually seem to be present. They take up a lot more room than the stackable Baxter pumps. It gets way too busy with lines and pumps when infusing multiple gtts. Their alarms echo oddly so they hard to track down; even the company rep admitted this during our training. To me, they are noisy...the churning sound is quite distracting to me, but I'm overly sensitive to that type of noise.

Now the positive aspects: The drug library is extensive and since it is managed by our own pharmacy, the concentrations and rates match our protocol and policy; so if the RN takes the time to read the screen they can cut down on some errors (read above for issues with nurses in too big of a hurry). They are pretty to look at so that is a plus. They are lightweight and that is also an advantage over the 3 channel Baxter pumps. They clear "air in line" alarms much easier that the old Baxter's.

Thanks for the fantastic details! They have a demo on their website, I tried it out and, just like you said, it's quite complicated.

We have the Alaris Smartpumps...they are great because your pharmacy can program the meds in with the guidelines and guardrails! the only complaint we have is that we do a lot of TPN windows and we can't program a step program in it like our other pumps had. And they can be updated remotely by wireless for any new meds etc.

Thanks! Being able to update remotely sounds like a great feature!

Is this pump from CareFusion?

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Specializes in ER.

We also use Alaris smartpumps, Love them compared to the baxter's that I was taught on in school.

(don't know which brand Alaris, or if they are really all the same)

Pros

-Reprogrammed with all of our departments medications and concentrations, so it is almost dummy proof

-Easy to use, with a few minutes instruction...pretty self explanatory

-add on channels for additional lines as required (clips on the side)

-look pretty

Cons

-We never have enough extra "add a channel" packs where I work, it is frustrating to search enormous department for one, or have to set up 3 individual pumps when you fail to find one. Because of this issue, people hoard them, which makes the problem even worse. You definitely need to have enough channels if you go with this pump.

-air in the line alarm when there is obviously no air in the line.

(I actually figured out how to solve this in 2 seconds for all the curious people out there. I was getting tired of trouble shooting for hours, re-priming the line a gazillion times, watching co-workers set up a whole new pump etc, until I figured out where the air-in-line sensors are. They are two round clear circles inside the door where you feed the tubing through. These sensors get smudged with dirt and film over, take an alcohol wipe and clean it off....Voila! it is has never failed to fix the problem. OF course make sure there isn't air in the line first!)

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Sigma Spectrum (Spectra?) here, too. Same pros/cons as the previous poster. Also, had a bad patient situation when I had an intubated peds patient who was bucking the tube and the pump wouldn't let me override the max. dose of propofol, so I had to keep bolusing all the way from the ED to the doors of the OR (the other option was to turn off the pump, turn it back on and reprogram it in adult mode, but at the point I figured that out, we were already on our way). Not fun.

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(I actually figured out how to solve this in 2 seconds for all the curious people out there. I was getting tired of trouble shooting for hours, re-priming the line a gazillion times, watching co-workers set up a whole new pump etc, until I figured out where the air-in-line sensors are. They are two round clear circles inside the door where you feed the tubing through. These sensors get smudged with dirt and film over, take an alcohol wipe and clean it off....Voila! it is has never failed to fix the problem. OF course make sure there isn't air in the line first!)

Thanks for the detailed info! Very helpful.

Love the tips here! Got to give it a try sometime:)

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Specializes in Med-Swing/Rehab.

UGH! We have the hospira plum+ or whatever pumps and they are god awful. So sensitive. Even when the cartridge is primed properly the dang thing STILL beeps. This is when I take it off the pump and regulate flow by amount of drips. Haha... then I let the day nurse deal with it. ): Sounds bad but nights we're really busy and I wont go waking up every patient while I search rooms for an available IV pump.

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Specializes in Med-Swing/Rehab.

"I heard that Hospira pumps beeps a lot. Not sure if that's true in your guys' experience?

Thanks much!"

-x-

OMG THEY BEEP SO MUCH I GO CRAZZYY WWHHAHAHAA

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Sigma Spectrum (Spectra?) here, too. Same pros/cons as the previous poster. Also, had a bad patient situation when I had an intubated peds patient who was bucking the tube and the pump wouldn't let me override the max. dose of propofol, so I had to keep bolusing all the way from the ED to the doors of the OR (the other option was to turn off the pump, turn it back on and reprogram it in adult mode, but at the point I figured that out, we were already on our way). Not fun.

Wow - sounds like a very stressful situation! Thank you for sharing:)

Hahaha, sorry I have to laugh at this one... My mother-in-law was in the hospital recently, and her Hospira was beeping a lot and she got inpatient to wait for the nurse, so she tried to fix the alarm herself. Man was she scolded by the nurse:)

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I like the Sigma Spectra pumps when programmed with detailed drug library - as I feel it supports safety. I don't like it when they are not programmed with such a library. As Nursetastic said, they have multiple steps to program, which can be irritating...and they are very sensitive and sometimes alarm occlusion when there is none. I have found they are noisy only when infusing at a rapid rate --above 250 ml/hour....definitely hear them at 500 ml/hr.

I like how small they are.

The negatives: Too many steps to program them and we have had more than one error because of all the "ok" and "yes/no" selections required before the pump begins infusing. They are very sensitive to upstream occlusions that never actually seem to be present. They take up a lot more room than the stackable Baxter pumps. It gets way too busy with lines and pumps when infusing multiple gtts. Their alarms echo oddly so they hard to track down; even the company rep admitted this during our training. To me, they are noisy...the churning sound is quite distracting to me, but I'm overly sensitive to that type of noise.

Now the positive aspects: The drug library is extensive and since it is managed by our own pharmacy, the concentrations and rates match our protocol and policy; so if the RN takes the time to read the screen they can cut down on some errors (read above for issues with nurses in too big of a hurry). They are pretty to look at so that is a plus. They are lightweight and that is also an advantage over the 3 channel Baxter pumps. They clear "air in line" alarms much easier that the old Baxter's.

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Specializes in Surgical Specialty Clinic - Ambulatory Care.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Alaris 'smart' pumps. After doing a very minimal amount of research on line I can't tell for sure if CareFusion Alaris pumps and Cardinal Health Alaris pumps are built by the same company or not. My hospital uses Cardinal Alaris pumps. However, after viewing both of the pumps online I believe they both operate in the same manner. As a travel nurse I have seen plum pumps and one other type of pump that I can't remember what it was called. In my opinion I would NEVER use anything other than Alaris smart pump if I got to choose. It's got a ton of safety features, the guardrail safety, the programmable drug library, the ease of adding additional lines and or other compatable equipment. I love them soooooooooo much!

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