What does the inside of YOUR car/trunk look like, LOL?!?

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Is your mobile office tidy and organized, or is it a heaping mess? Any brave souls willing to share pictures?

I start a new job in a few weeks and would love some ideas about how to set up my SUV!!!

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Specializes in Neuro ICU/Trauma/Emergency.

The inside of my car is filled with on avg 47 individuals( often times sprinkled with 2 or 3 homeless individuals I picked up on Jay st.) You can find Subway cups, candy wrappers, and loose papers all over the floor. Sometimes it's filled with feces, vomit, etc.

Then again I am from New York( born and raised), I don't own a car & the subway is my means of transportation. Don't even start me on my personal car, the taxi....That's another filthy mess! :-) I love it! Couldn't live without my subway & taxi! What would I do with a vehicle?

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Specializes in LTC, Sub-Acute, Hopsice.

I don't carry supplies. It is too easy to think I have something I need...then I look for it and I don't. My front passenger seat has a file case for my travel charts (hipaa compliance!) And my nursing bag, charger for the cell and Bluetooth. I have a plastic bag (one of the dreaded grocery bags) hanging off the gear shift for trash. My notebook to keep track of my time traveling and with each patient is stuck in my visor. My personal cell is on an antiskid pad on the dash and both Bluetooths are in the tray on the console. My work cell stays in the side pocket of my bag. I have it set to announce the caller ID, so I can just flip open my Bluetooth and answer. This stops at least half of the "pull overs" to answer the phone (which sometimes rings CONSTANTLY). If I need to take supplies to a home, they are double bagged and on the back seat. I don't like to have to open the back of my SUV to get stuff out. It seems to stay put better on the back seat. There are regs about home care/hospice nurses cars. Keeping clean and dirty separated etc. I just don't carry any of it unless I am going from the office to that patients house. I have a husband and son who also use the car, I don't want to have to worry about the back being full if hubby wants to go pick up plants or topsoil, or I go shopping. And 20 year old son really doesn't like to have to explain the adult diapers to his friends!

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Specializes in LTC, Sub-Acute, Hopsice.

And how in the world do you do patient visits using the subway? I guess I am so much of a South Jersey Girl/Piney (I am in "really" South Jersey, there isn't even a bus that comes within 15 miles of my house!) I just can't fathom the logistics of it.

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Specializes in Neuro ICU/Trauma/Emergency.
And how in the world do you do patient visits using the subway? I guess I am so much of a South Jersey Girl/Piney (I am in "really" South Jersey, there isn't even a bus that comes within 15 miles of my house!) I just can't fathom the logistics of it.

You simply have a nursing bag and your personal bag, I tend to carry one large med bag( if I am doing a private duty case). But, I work in a teaching hospital as my main job. But, when I did work private duty part-time( now I do it PRN) I would carry a large bag. I couldn't imagine having to be reliant on a vehicle. I know a lot of people are the other way around with public transportation. But, being a NYC native you're more efficient with public transportation. Granted I am not a bus person at all!

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Is your mobile office tidy and organized, or is it a heaping mess? Any brave souls willing to share pictures?

I start a new job in a few weeks and would love some ideas about how to set up my SUV!!!

Hey there!

Hospice field nurse here :) Crisis care nurse to be exact! I have a ton of supplies gloves,briefs,foleys,foley bags,dressings,syringes ect.In the beginning my trunk was a "hot mess" literally.I organized all my products and placed them in a rubbermaid bin with top.I took only like 2 of each supply and packed it in there.The rest I brought inside and placed in my closet.I utilize a medium size suitcase bag on wheels in which I carry all my personal stuff in -my vital supplies,my stethescope,hand santizer,my laptop,all my chargers ,books,lunch sack ,literature for the families ect and I roll this into my pts homes.When I leave a case and return home my bag stays in the car at all times.The only thing I bring in is my lunch sack and laptop.Due to germs ect the bag stays in car.I never know what kind of situation I am walking into.Sometimes the houses are unclean,roach infested ect.I also carry a small wooden table like the one you eat on (like a tv dinner tray-free standing) in the trunk.At times the families do not have adequate areas for the nurses to chart.I should also let you know I work 12 hr shifts :)

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Hi! I'm a hospice night fixer : )

two tubs in the way back, one for GI/GU supplies (urinals, bedpans, emesis basin, foley kits, chux, diapers). One tub for all other supplies (dsgs , soap, mouth swabs, dsg chg trays, )

In between the tubs is my large nursing bag with cuff, pulse ox (hidden), thermometer, grocery bag (to put d/c foley in) extra lube, educational mat'ls, some dsgs. cat litter in a ziploc (to dispose of rx p mortem)

In between the tubs and behind my bag is a paper bag full of ziplocks containing cat litter.

Back seat is hot box for medical waste, beanbag laptop desk, more diapers and chux, electronic converters.

Passenger seat is laptop, large organizer with phone numbers, doc schedule, educational mat'ls, local funeral homes, coroners for surrounding counties, etc. GPS on Dash.

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Thanks so much to all who have responded! It's interesting to see how different everyone does it. I bought some plastic drawers to put in the very back of my truck, and will have a large plastic bin for diapers and such. I also bought a scrapbooking bag to use as my nursing bag....everything fits really nice in it and it has lots of pockets/compartments.

I got one of those lap desks also for charting in the car. I've been riding with other nurses all week and have had a blast so far. Hoping they'll let me go on my own soon!

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My assortment of empty soft drink containers is quite extensive.

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I found the title of this posting amusing. I know what my trunk looks like, and I'd rather not discuss it. After 10 years of nursing in LTC facilities as a charge nurse on an Alzheimer's unit half of that time and the other have on a Skilled Nursing unit, I finally made the leap out of my comfort zone and into the field of Hospice Nursing. Now back to the title, instead of asking what's in my trunk, I would like to ask you experienced Hospice nurses, "What SHOULD be in my trunk?" Other than 4x4s, tape, scissors, and wound disinfectant, I'm kind of lost as to what supplies I will be using most commonly. Which ones I should keep gathered in a tackle box or tote for easy transfer in/out of pt homes. Any ideas of necessary supplies and/or organizational tips would be priceless and greatly appreciated! I have the greatest respect for all of you and all that you do to enhance these patients' qualitty of life.

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I have a plastic bin full of supplies, catheters, dressings, lab supplies. I have a laptop case with my laptop and charger in that. My nursing bag was given to me by our company and it has bp cuff, oximeter, thermometer. I carry my cell phone in my pocket in the home and put on console while driving. When we are on call, we also carry a drug box with essential medications. Now, besides that, I have tons of papers, admission packets, and of course my biohazard box and gloves gloves gloves in the back seat. When I am on call, it becomes a mess of epic proportions.

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Really? you guys do visits on the subway and cab in New York? You must be mutant-strong to carry all the stuff you might need! Case manage, or on call?

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