bme-frank

dang. i came here to look for a training aid on electrical safety for nursing, then i saw the posts above. wow. unbelievable - no. i have over 40 years experience as a biomedical/clinical engineer (as, bs, ms in electronics and biomedical engineering). i have always believed the healthcare community has far too little emphasized the technology side of patient care. you study infection control but not technology, you learn proper syringe techniques but not ecg monitoring electrode placement, on and on, and, on and on. in the er you have a patient monitor designed for the patient care environment and next to it a computer designed for an office environment. a medical device ul and iec approved with a hospital grade plug connected to a power strip bought at the local office supply store with no approval. what’s the expression about the weakest part of a chain? it is a matter of knowing - it is a matter of caring – it’s a matter of doing. extension cords permitted? maybe- maybe not (i say no - never - except a real emergency - like one time mid open heart - power went out in that room - extension cords one room to another - permitted - but monitored until end of procedure). cords on the floor? no. ever see frayed cords, ever spill conductive fluids on the floor in or - ok then why no cords on the floors. same reason for extension cords. you violate the cords insulations integrity and fluids may enter the connections. also extension cords increase the likelihood of miss wired connectors. powl. be careful quoting others. i hear it said so often “joint commission requires it”. oh really, where, cite me a reference, page, section, paragraph, let me read it. even many of my colleagues disagree. the point is, a an emphasis on a safety in the past lead to a safe today and now a lax of techniques, which will lead to an unsafe tomorrow. the pendulum theory. every nurse, every employee providing patient care should be required to undergo an initial and annual training - sort of like bcls - acls, fire training. some places do it - most not. every day - without exception - i see things that literally blow me away. frayed power cords in or ("oh that’s not good?" - or “we can't take it out of use now - we need to use it", "we have done it that way for years, why do we have to change now?"). all too often md’s use their position to override someone else who knows better. we need to truly all be members of a team, all play by the say rules, and use the same game plans. one example, defibrillating a patient with metal shackles? oh yes and also you say "stand clear" when you discharge. i guess we need to watch reruns of er more. equipment is generally designed to be safer now than ever. but we have increased the exposure far greater, so are not safer today than years past. the or has more technology than radio shack. oh yes, the entire hospital.