Good evening, my professor said that most healthcare facilities have some sort of magnet either behind the nurses station or over the medication room door... she wanted me to look up the meaning of it for tomorrow but the only thing I can find is that it relates to a facility being magnet status... I feel that is not the answer however. Can someone help me please.
What the heck kind of school are you going to? What a waste of valuable time.
If, indeed, this is the "pacemaker" magnet, why would it be a waste of time for a student to research its purpose? Based on the OP, the instructor was pretty vague about which magnet(s) she was referring to--however, I think it's totally appropriate to ask the students to research their purpose rather that just spoon feeding it to them.
A VNS magnet perhaps? Although that would more likely be at the bedside of the patient...
My patient has one (I do private duty nursing). The kiddo I take care of has it to control seizures. There's a device implanted in her chest that's connected to a nerve (for the life of me I can't remember which nerve) and when she has a seizure, you swipe the magnet across her chest.
I worked on a cardiac unit where a large magnet could be applied over an ICD to prevent defibrillation in palliative patients. For example, it could be useful in a rural hospital where removal of an ICD in a palliative patient is not feasible because of distance to a cardiac centre, sudden changes in health status, etc.
Here is a source: http://www.ccn.on.ca/ccn_public/uploadfiles/files/ICD_Deactivation_Patient_Guide_FINAL_v008_April_13_2017.pdf
The use of a magnet is for emergency deactivation of an ICD. Look on page seven.
hawaiicarl, BSN, RN
327 Posts
They actually just turn off the AICD function, pacing spikes carry on.