Meds in the OR

[OR male nurse]

Have a question as to who gets the meds for your cases ? Where I work now, the techs or set up aids have free run of the anesthesia cabinets and are allowed to go and get the lidocaine, heparin, etc. for the case. The RN is still responsible for checking the label with (2) persons before pouring to the sterile field. However, this makes me uncomfortable as where I worked previously, the RN's only could access pixis or the med cabinet and chose the meds themselves. I've run into the wrong concentration of Heparin, dexamethasone when it should be solu-medrol, Lidocaine with Epi when it should be without...etc. How is it done where you work ? Do your surgical techs and OR set up people take meds out of the cabinet and bring them into the room ? Or, is it RN's only that control the med cabinet.

Thanks

[MsLeylaBar]

We have an OR Pharmacy, we have different med boxes for each service and RN's just line up in the pharmacy first thing in the morning to get their med boxes for the day. We also have an Omnicell (Pyxis like) during off hours and RN's get the meds from there. Only RNs can access the Omnicell.

Sometimes we need a certain drug that's not in our med boxes and we just call the pharmacy and page an anesthesia tech to pick it up.

[MamaCheese]

The RNs get the meds before each case from our Accudose (pyxis) machine. We tube a ticket down to pharmacy for the few items not stocked in the pyxis and they tube the meds back up to us.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

The RNs get the meds where I work now...but I've worked at other places where the techs had access to the pyxis..

[cscott1]

I personally would not place myself (or my patient) at risk by giving or using a medication that anyone else has pulled, much less someone that has had no training in medication administration.

Having said that, I have relieved in cases where meds were already on the field that had been checked and poured by an RN. In that case, I believe the RN that I relieve is respondsible for the med(s).