No med room.

RNperdiem, RN · Sep 18, 2020

I don't think this is unusual. You get your meds out of the machine, and take them to the patient room to be checked, scanned, prepared and given.

JKL33 · Sep 18, 2020

This is opposed to the safety vests and the taped off "Quiet Zone" in the closed med rooms in order remind us not to stand around chatting about all of our bar hopping and other disreputable behaviors (or so said the more reputable people doing the inservices...)

Ah, well. So much for the first uninterruped check at the machine....

But I agree, it isn't unusual.

OUxPhys, BSN, RN · Sep 19, 2020

I was an aide at a hospital where they didn't have a med room. It was a little odd but they had locked Pyxis carts in the hallway where the RNs would remove the meds.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Sep 20, 2020

Not all of our ICU's have a dedicated med room. However, there is a thick blue line of demarcation around the Pyxis to signify that it's a no interruption zone. But it's only as effective as employees are willing to enforce or respect the line, LOL. I'm not sure a med room is a requirement given that there are many older hospital structures that would have to be retro-fitted to accommodate a specific room for med preparation. Besides, nurses mixing meds in a solution is not that common anymore as they come pre-mixed from Pharmacy. Is this a new unit built from an old existing structure?

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Sep 20, 2020

It's more work for the nurse.. as you have to pull meds for each patient and prepare it in their room. Back and forth to the Pyxis for every med administration. The corporate machine does not care .. how many more miles a nurse has to walk .

RNperdiem, RN · Sep 20, 2020

Where I work, it is not that the corporate machine doesn't care, it is that our unit was built in the dinosaur days, and our new hospital wing is still under construction.

An older unit like mine means that as regulations change, things get added on in an ad hoc fashion. When gloves and sharps boxes became standard, they were added to every room in fairly random spots- no two rooms alike. Then came computers in the rooms, every room different to fit the new equipment. Med scanners and wall mounted thermometers added in. An older unit has little room for visitors, we might squeeze in a couple of chairs, but when these units were built, visitors had little visitation, so rooms were designed without them. Some older ICU rooms only have curtains between the beds. Pyxis and med fridges are in the hall because there was no room provided for them when the unit was built.

I get unit envy when I transfer patients to newly built space. The med rooms! The lack of visual clutter! The convenient layout!

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Sep 21, 2020

@RNperdiem let me guess, California where space is premium and regulations galore prevent new hospital structures from being built because the neighborhood association would not like the shadow of a building cast over their precious homes, LOL.

RNperdiem, RN · Sep 21, 2020

Juan, actually I live in North Carolina. The unit was built sometime in the 1960s or 70s, and all new requirements get crammed in. We are getting a new building, but it is going to take years to get built.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Sep 21, 2020

6 hours ago, RNperdiem said:

Juan, actually I live in North Carolina. The unit was built sometime in the 1960s or 70s, and all new requirements get crammed in. We are getting a new building, but it is going to take years to get built.

Got it. It's the same here in Northern California, we have a master plan for a new hospital campus slated to open in 2030...that's with a lot of wrangling with the surrounding neighborhood about what they would allow. And this is a university hospital. There is an expansive piece of land behind the existing hospital that has to remain untouched because it's a nature reserve.

Hoosier_RN, MSN · Sep 25, 2020

On 9/19/2020 at 8:48 PM, Been there,done that said:

The corporate machine does not care .. how many more miles a nurse has to walk

Those gems probably pat themselves on the back for incorporating exercise into the busy nurses day. Keeping our health in mind and all...?

Tweety, BSN, RN · Sep 25, 2020

One of our units has a machine in the hall. Doesn't seem to be a problem. You're going to follow your medication administration rights no matter where you pull your meds and prepare them from aren't you?