There's a current thread polling about waiting in a line at the pyxis, the time it takes to pull meds, etc.
I don't get interrupted too often by staff when I'm using the pyxis. The occasional RT to pull meds for breathing treatments or the pharmacy tech to fill some med(s), but usually it's the patients who'll interrupt. They start lining up outside the med room right before med time like Wal-Mart campers on Black Friday.
I refused to open the med room door even though they knock and scratch on it like crazed zombies.
I also refuse to answer the phone when I'm setting up meds. I figure if it's really important, they can call 911.
The Pyxis has its own personality. It's very anal and moves at its own pace. Cubies take forever to open, especially the ones containing acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. I may be wrong but I don't hold a lot of faith in them improving a patient's memory or reminding the cubie to open. I swear! The cubie that contains Aricept takes forever to open!
Okay. That's a start. What kind of Pyxis Problems have you experienced?
Failed drawers are the worst -- especially when it's one with nothing but narcotics and you have to count. If it happens once in the shift, it happens three or four times and how come I'm always in the med room when that happens?
We had an entire pocket that would pop out every time we did the big count on Sunday nights. . . It contained Fentanyl patches. Drove me nuts. I'd immediately smack that sucker right back into place. NO! I do not want to take you home! The worst part about our Pyxis is that it's in the nursing station, with everyone else running around talking to you, patients leaning in the med door asking questions, phones ringing and folks expecting you to stop what you're doing to answer them. No one seems to care that it's an environment just begging for med errors to happen.
Looking for someone to observe your waste of narcotics is a big time suck, especially if there is no one around, and you need to give your CIWA patient their wee dose of Ativan.
Oh God, when pharmacy randomly decides to send some of your patient's medications from central pharmacy to the patient's bin, some to the drawer, some are lying around in the tubes still, and some are no where to be found. It's a huge time suck. If only they could reliably send up medications, all on time.
Our pharmacy techs stock at the same time. They also stock when you need to get a STAT medication.
So... many... buttons to push, and pills to count, and keys needed for high-security med boxes, when I just...want...to...get the meds out! I'm high-energy, so I stand there tapping fingers and jiggling one foot while waiting for the boxes to open. On camera, it probably looks like I'm doing the bathroom dance. ?
Our pyxis is always out of things, so we have to push extra buttons and sign extra paperwork and run around looking for the medications in pharmacy or another pyxis. But at least we don't have to contend with techs stocking at busy times, I guess... win some, lose some?
Not very fast, intuitive, or user-friendly...but it probably costs a boatload of money, and maybe it's the best option available?
If I ever have a mental breakdown at work, it will probably be in the med room, and I'll be screaming at the Pyxis. ????
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
1 hour ago, thoughtful21 said:
I just...want...to...get the meds out! I'm high-energy, so I stand there tapping fingers and jiggling one foot while waiting for the boxes to open. On camera, it probably looks like I'm doing the bathroom dance.
We don't have a med room. Most of our pyxis machines are in main hallways so there is no hiding from patients. They can walk right up to you and demand their meds.. It's super convenient for them to walk up and request their diluadid right then and there. No need to dilute it either.. They'll take it straight in their IV.. ?
Really, it's a disaster and clearly and afterthought. The only floor that has a true med room is the rehab floor.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
22 hours ago, xoemmylouox said:
Most of our pyxis machines are in main hallways... They can walk right up to you and demand their meds... It's super convenient for them to walk up and request their diluadid right then and there. No need to dilute it either.. They'll take it straight in their IV..
Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
This one wins the internets today!!! And it makes me happy I'm no longer on a floor. My meds are kept in a giant locking Craftsman red box on wheels. The kind you'd normally see storing tools.
There's a current thread polling about waiting in a line at the pyxis, the time it takes to pull meds, etc. 
HarleyvQuinn, MSN, RN, NP
222 Posts
We had an entire pocket that would pop out every time we did the big count on Sunday nights. . . It contained Fentanyl patches. Drove me nuts. I'd immediately smack that sucker right back into place. NO! I do not want to take you home!
The worst part about our Pyxis is that it's in the nursing station, with everyone else running around talking to you, patients leaning in the med door asking questions, phones ringing and folks expecting you to stop what you're doing to answer them. No one seems to care that it's an environment just begging for med errors to happen.