Shared eye drops/multiple patients

[switcher]

Does anyone "share" eye drops routinely between preoperative patients? If so, how long do you keep the open drops?

[CHATSDALE]

NEVER NEVER EVER SHARE EYE GTTS this is a welcome sign for infections

[leslie :-D]

theoretically if you don't touch any part of the pt's eye then there should be no problems with cross contamination. but as we all know our ideals are not always the reality. i have never given thought as to how long you keep it open.....isn't there an expiration date?

[karenG]

never ever share drops.............have you ever seen a post-op endopthalmitis????? can destroy the eye in 12hrs!!!

should use single use drops or patients own drops- usually ok for 2wks-but shouldnt last that long!

Karen

[Daqueengene]

In our hospital we do share eye drops for pre-op cataract clients. The drops are instilled by the holding room RNs and the tips arent allowed to touch the eye at all. The drops are then discarded after their use for that day. All the patients for that day share the charge. This may sound crazy to some but when I started there in the eye room pts shared phaco irrigation from case to case just changing tubing and eye meds instilled during the case and after the case before going to recovery were kept and used day to day patient to patient never dated and it was gross. I still think that everyone should get their own drops but in the age of cost containment it is often the patient that gets placed on the chopping block.

[AvenueB]

Does anyone "share" eye drops routinely between preoperative patients? If so, how long do you keep the open drops?

I agree with some of the other replies that drops should never be shared between pts, but they do it where I work, too. With regard to cost containment, the patient is being charged for the drug -- not just 2 gtts per eye -- so I think once the bottle is opened and used for that patient, it should be discarded and never used for another patient.

[ceecel.dee, MSN, RN]

In our hospital we do share eye drops for pre-op cataract clients. The drops are instilled by the holding room RNs and the tips arent allowed to touch the eye at all. The drops are then discarded after their use for that day. All the patients for that day share the charge.

I still think that everyone should get their own drops but in the age of cost containment it is often the patient that gets placed on the chopping block.

We do this too...I don't like it, it has been discussed it in our dept. meeting with concerns brought up, but that's the way it is done here.

[QuilterLPN]

what about using a new sterile dropper for each patient, that way you can have one bottle of drug, but several droppers that are discarded after each use.

[paris2]

When patients attends as an out patient we always use Minims, single use eye drop. We never share eye drops. When patients are discharged home we provide them proper eye drop bottles. More information can be obtained http://www.emc.medicines.org.uk

[nursebonkers]

Remind me never to have eye surgery, GROSS!!!

[spaniel]

As an RN who had two major eye surgeries (cornea transplants)- I could not believe what I read. Yikes