Please stop! Little things that are just bad practice.

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Little things that are just bad practice.

Like looping IV tubing back into itself (against our policy, and they went to great lengths to hand out caps to carry in pockets). And not even cleaning off the port you looped it into!

Disconnecting a running IV to take a pt to the bathroom.. and just leaving the bare end hanging from the pole. Don't interrupt IVFs ! Take the blinking pump with you!

What are yours?

Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

Here is one more little thing that is a bad practice:

Our ICU rooms are very small with a sink on the right as you enter the room.

The resp. care staff put the ventilator or BiPap right in front of the sink so that no one can wash their hands.

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Specializes in Med/surg, Onc.
re: the K+ comment in the ED, it is good practice, that if you are hanging K+ on a peripheral line, you hang it on its own pump and Y port it into carrier fluids (at least 30cc/hr, preferably >50cc/hr) this reduces irritation of the vein... or you could work in an awesome hospital that has lidocaine in the K+ bags!!!

No lidocaine in the bag but we always Y in the K+ with fluids running with at least 50ccs of fluid too, each gets it's own pump and we don't have complaints of burning or stinging that way.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Thereby negating the idea of ISOLATION PRECAUTIONS.

I get you. However I attended a presentation by our infection control nurse. She showed evidence that the isolation precautions we take for MRSA, single use gowns and gloves, were much more effective at making us feel good than in actually preventing the spread of MRSA.

I will see if I can get ahold of what she presented.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
No lidocaine in the bag but we always Y in the K+ with fluids running with at least 50ccs of fluid too, each gets it's own pump and we don't have complaints of burning or stinging that way.

Good for you. That is the correct way to run IV K. My last hospital had a policy that the nurse could choose to run IVF at 1-3x the rate of the K to prevent discomfort.

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.
Could you please share why the first one is bad if you've scrubbed the port?

There is a lot of research from NIH, ISMP and the INS if you google it.

The IV team at a facility I work in will throw it all out if they find looped IV tubing and write an incident report.

It is quicker to use a sterile end cap than it is to scrub the hub for fifteen seconds anyway.

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.
Don't forget the part where they get mad at you because you questioned if the gloves were clean or dirty!

The worst is when the same gloves are worn from patient to patient to patient, even foley bag to foley bag. :mad:

Gloves aren't magical. I'd rather be touched by a bare handed caregiver with great hand hygiene, than someone always gloved, never washing.

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
Where I am now the visitors don't have to follow contact precautions at all.

They have even allowed children to visit without following contact precautions.

That is weird beyond belief!

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Specializes in Oncology.
Where I am now the visitors don't have to follow contact precautions at all.

They have even allowed children to visit without following contact precautions.

When they start making kiddie size isolation gowns I will let them visit an isolation patient.

Same at my facility. Anyone can visit isolation patients with no precautions.

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Placing NIBP cuffs incorrectly/upside down and titrating vasoactive drips based off the readings :dead:

My big pet peeve as of late!

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.
Same at my facility. Anyone can visit isolation patients with no precautions.

Some of my coworkers are so afraid of a visitor making a complaint that they let them do whatever they want. This is another thing that is a bad practice.

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.
Placing NIBP cuffs incorrectly/upside down and titrating vasoactive drips based off the readings :dead:

My big pet peeve as of late!

I totally agree with you.

According to Tom Ahrens of Phillips Life Sciences, there is absolutely no research to support the validity and accuracy of taking the NIBP on the forearm or the thigh.

This another thing that is a bad practice.

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
Same at my facility. Anyone can visit isolation patients with no precautions.

Once again PR/'customer' satisfaction trumps common sense and safety. "C'mon in folks, spread those germs far and wide!"

Boy, let one of US go into a room without the proper gear on and we'd be strung up by our thumbs!

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