why do so many nurses post that they love the med scanners

[the nites]

Why do so many nurses post that they love the med scanners, b/c, as we all know: they are shills and somehow these posts are turning up b/c the scanners are slow at best, and 2, next time you are on a jet flight at 30000 feet or in your car going 55 mph + and the jet or your vehicle acts w/problems like the scanners routinely do--then you know in your last living breath that the scanners really are a fraud and someone made you post such nonsense that they are great.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

I personally love med scanning. It is safer for the patient!

[ixchel]

OP, I hate it when they don't work right. It happens every shift, guaranteed. But what also happens is I move too quickly pulling meds. I get one less than I should, I miss a new order, or very rarely pharmacy will put the wrong dose in a bin, which I catch when the scanner reveals wrong dose. I love that ours remind which pills are supposed to be halved.

I'm not sure how much I love that it lets me think a little less about all these details, but I do love that I can do other things, like patient education, during that time that I'm scanning.

I haven't seen any posts before this one regarding love or hate of med scanning.

[Julius Seizure]

I dont mind med scanners. I mean, if nothing else, its an easier way to document med administration (less computer clicks) and can add a layer of safety. However, I think its important to also go through all the checks yourself - read the labels, read the order on the screen, think in your brain if it makes sense, etc.

[macawake, MSN]

--then you know in your last living breath that the scanners really are a fraud and someone made you post such nonsense that they are great.

I seriously doubt that my or anyone else's last thoughts will be about.. med scanners... Before reading your post I don't think I've spent more than a few minutes thinking about them at all.

Why the drama of airplane crashes and motor vehicle accidents? I'm confused.

If the ones you use at work don't work well, could that perhaps be addressed through the appropriate channels?

[emmy27]

There we have it, folks: the majority of AN posters are shills for Big Scanner.

I knew we'd be caught out sooner or later.

Yeah, sometimes they don't work right (although slow has never been an issue- it either works or it doesn't) but man, they have saved my bacon enough times when there was a change in order or an unusual dosage or even a change in the formulary we stock that I love them. One of the few ways that computer-based charting has really, inarguably improved patient safety.

[ponymom]

Hey where are all these scanner-hate posts at? I need to read 'm right away 'cuz I'm about to get in my car and go shopping. I'll be doing 55mph and I need to be prepared.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I dont mind med scanners. I mean, if nothing else, its an easier way to document med administration (less computer clicks) and can add a layer of safety. However, I think its important to also go through all the checks yourself - read the labels, read the order on the screen, think in your brain if it makes sense, etc.

This. While technology is great as a tool, that's all it is- a tool. Humans still need to do the critical thinking of the rights of medication administration as well as if the patient's condition warrants giving the med. The scanner only knows that a beta blocker is due; it doesn't say that the patient shouldn't get the med because his heart rate is in the 30s.

[DeeAngel]

I love scanners because they provide proof that I did things correctly as well as provide me with verification for what I'm doing. Scanners are like having another nurse stand next to me as a silent witness and that can't be a bad thing in this age of customer satisfaction, complaining patients, and litigiousness.

[kidsmom002]

I like med scanners. I think they add an extra layer of safety for the patient who is receiving the meds. Another reason I like med scanners is for patients who request meds around the clock and are soo sleepy they later forget they were given their meds. When they tell the next shift they never got any meds it's very convenient to be able to pull up the MAR and show that the patient's band had been scanned as had the medication. More job security in my opinion. I just wish we had more portable scanners at my hospital. We have to push big computers on wheels that actually made me throw my back out before!! Hate the machines but love the actual scanning. :)

[klone, MSN, RN]

You're all shills!

(I giggled at "Big Scanner")

[ambr46]

Wow you are so right!!! Just yesterday I was on an airplane and the whole system malfunctioned and all I could think of was this would never have happened if it wasn't for those #@*& scanners!!! I took a deep breath, and in that last moment I knew that those scanners were fraudulent and deceptive. Luckily, the engine straightened itself out and everything was ok...but in that terrifying moment I realized the truth about those scanners.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

Now that so many people have responded & the OP only has 6 posts I'm gonna start taking bets on whether or not she will return.