NCline9

Hello, I applied for my first travel jobs that are offering ~$5000 a week for 13 weeks in the COVID ICU. It’ll be night shift and 48 hour weeks. I’ve heard most of these crisis response jobs will have you tripled in the ICU frequently. Considering this would be a fairly challenging assignment, is it worth it? Btw, I’m a nurse with 3 years experience, 2+ years in the ICU.

Due to the size of our hallways, I think the only way this design would work for us is if the carts were inside the room. However, it seems like there are varying schools of thought regarding the contamination of the cart's contents if placed inside the room: Either all contents are automatically contaminated with, or not contaminated so long as proper HH is always performed prior to opening the cart. Both are reasonable; the former eliminates any doubt that the cart's contents are sanitary, and the latter incorporates trust in the RN that he/she will perform appropriate HH prior to using the cart. Hopefully our facility sides with the latter, especially considering our ER rooms and CVICU bay already utilize a bedside "C-locker" storing supplies that are not discarded in-between patients, and are actually more exposed than they would be if stored inside a cart. Thank you guys again for your input!

Interesting! Was there any particular reason why your carts had to be outside of the room vs. inside? Thank you for the info, that helps!

Hello, I'm not sure if I'm posting this topic in the right place, but I wanted to get other nurses' opinions on this endeavor I'm undertaking. I work in SICU at a VA Hospital, where we have one supply room and one limited supply cart located at the nurses' station. I'm wanting to request bedside supply carts to stock basic nursing supplies: IVs, gauze, tape, lab tubes, needles, syringes, etc. so that we don't have to run out of the room excessively to obtain needed supplies. In my experience in other hospitals, along with my colleagues' experiences, it appears as if this is already a standard practice in most ICUs. However, in order to request this type of change, I must submit a formal request to our EBP council, using evidence-based literature supporting my request. Unfortunately this specific topic has not really been researched and therefore my lit review turned up dry. So my questions for you is: In your experience, are bedside supply carts common in the ICU? How would you approach this EBP request, given that there are almost no articles specifically addressing this topic? Thank you for your time and input.