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Discussion

Medication access: nurse or tech?

I'm wondering how many of my OR coworkers share medication access (pyxis or other)? Just RNs or both RNs and techs? At my current assignment the surgical techs have been given access and responsibility to obtain meds for the surgical field. That would include local, heparin flushes or heparin vials for mixing, abx (baci, gent, neomycin), lymphazurin, and so on. They don't retrieve narcotics - and we don't use them often from the field. It is still the RN's responsibility to check for accuracy and dispense them to the field. It is viewed the same as "picking" their suture or gloves.

Just throwing this out for thought and discussion. For me as a traveler I go with the flow on stuff that is new to me, after I UNDERSTAND it. This one makes me think (and watch) very carefully.

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    I no longer work in the OR but in my previous position only RNs could retrieve meds. Then we opened them onto the sterile field where the tech prepared them for use, labeled, etc. I would be cautious about techs retrieving meds.

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    Where I work currently, only RNs get meds out of the Pyxis for patient cases but a number of ORTs and anesthesia techs have access to the Pyxis and it makes me uneasy.

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    RNs, STs, ATs all have Pyxis access where I work. Usually it's whoever is free will get the meds for the next case. The circulator is responsible to check that the right meds were pulled and the expiration dates. Because I work with a small team where I feel that I can trust them, I have no issues if they pull the meds. I do, however, have issues if they try to give the meds to the sterile field.

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    Only RNs can access the Pyxis in my hospital system

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