SDNavyRN

Anesthesia has brought it upstairs a few times on VIP pts when the MICU team has requested it....I didnt like it at all, the number it would give for sedation levels would not at all correlate with patient assessment...to be fair, nursing did not receive a proper inservice, it was like we just walked in one day and someone had smacked it on our pt overnight, but the majority of us ended up ignoring the thing altogether and going by our sedation score like always....

So I was at the monthly pharmacy and therapeutics meeting this month where I represent Crit Care nursing and the patient safety rep stated: 1. that she thought pharmacy needed to start overseeing the PTTs for heparin drips much like they review PT/INRs for coumadin dosing and 2. that heparin nomograms are not good for patient safety (this was after I stated that I did not think pharmacy oversight of PTTs was necessary as there is already oversight by two parties, the bedside nurse and the house medical officer and we follow a standardized nomogram that was at some point approved by pharmacy) So she is looking at this from a "WWJD" (What Would JCAHO Do) standpoint. I dont agree with her and am looking for back up. Who out there works at a hospital that 1. does or doesnt have pharmacy oversight of heparin drips, and/or 2. does or doesnt use heparin nomograms. I am interested in responses from both crit care and floor nurses....any feedback would be great....THANK YOU!!!