Using Laptops on for Med Pass

systoly · Apr 18, 2014

that is exactly the biggest problem i have encountered also

the batteries don't hold a charge or the laptop is not working alltogether

and there is no spare

most of the laptops i've seen on med carts where older models, bottom

of the line models or both

placed into service without consideration to purpose

a laptop on a med cart does not need a quad core processor or huge

memory banks requiring 64 bit processing

it does need large capacity batteries (at least one spare) and a large screen

(which requires more battery power)

network issues where a less frequent issue, but contributed to the overall

poor performance of the system

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Apr 18, 2014

The big problem with any laptop is battery life. Most laptops, including the one I'm on right now, only have sufficient battery life to run about 2 1/2 to 3 hours without recharging. If I change some settings, I can eek out 4 hours. Network problems can be problems with antennas on the laptop, the wireless access points, and the like. If you're having network problems and the laptops are relatively close to the access points and you're still having issues, then bring that to the IT folks because that's a problem.

If I had access to a relatively large battery pack and power supply that "replaces" the wall-wart charger for my laptop, I'd be able to go a whole lot longer than a couple hours on my laptop. For instance, while my laptop's battery only lasts a couple of hours and the battery is a 4900 mA battery. Think of it as a 4.9Ah capacity battery. My car's battery is more like a 40Ah, so it could probably go all day at a 1.5Ah drain rate. So if your laptop carts are dying early and they've got internal batteries, chances are good that the internal batteries have died as have the laptop batteries and that may very well be why you have to go from outlet to outlet to keep the laptops running. That's also a problem... and could be a safety issue if you absolutely must have patient information right away and can't wait for the laptop to reboot, connect to the network, and then bring up the eMAR or EHR.

systoly · Apr 18, 2014

my old laptop has about 2.5 hrs battery life, my new one has 9 hours and it's

far from being a top model

none of the LTCs in my area have an IT department

NurseQT · Apr 19, 2014

There's definitely no IT dept, it's a very small facility. Today I left the laptop unplugged by accident, it took less than 45 min for it to die. These are most definitely older model laptops and the internal battery is shot, and they don't have an external battery pack or anything. The last place I worked at had crappy laptops as well, that facility went back to paper MARs which their still using now...

I just don't understand why a facility wouldn't try to remedy this problem BEFORE state were to come. Right now the nurses are being orientated to do their med pass with their med carts parked in one place on the hall and they're leaving it unattended. It would be cheaper to purchase new laptops or even tablets than be cited and risk being fined for being out of compliance.

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Apr 21, 2014

We use laptops. The batteries last at least 3 hours which is more than long enough for a med pass. We don't have an inhouse IT person. I am the DNS and am on the Geek Squad since my first computer was a Commodore 64!