LRM

Hi Beth, thanks for your reply. Boiled water with salt a great idea so long as it is not kept too long (24hr should really apply here). Always works for sticky eyes with kids. What did we do before autoclaving? boiling ofcourse!. Main problem is cross infection but if only one person uses the boiled instruments then it should be ok. Any other suggestions on how to avoid wastage of packaged n/s?

Hi KT, our policies down under are usually 24hrs also (never seen one longer). I agree it is a waste of money throwing away unused portion & costly to use small sterile vials. Again, like barb we try to use the 250ml bottles. HHnurse, are you warming your saline before the dressing? Don't forget, NS has no preservatives in it so should not be used for >24hrs, even if you decant it away from bedside. When you say 'clean technique' are you meaning clean under shower & no touch technique (let air dry then cover with dressing). Nothing wrong with this, use it down here also, sometimes more comfortable for pt.