What is the point of a buretrol,

[*ac*]

other than adding meds? Why would you have a bag of medication flowing into a buretrol, then into a pump? My patient was set up this way when I came in and I could never get a clear answer as to why. There was nothing to be added to the buretrol. The flow was controlled by the pump. I don't get it. Can anyone explain?

[nurturing_angel]

When I work in our newborn nursery with a baby with a IV, I always use a burretrol. Pump settings are easy to make mistakes on. And I never put more than the hourly rate of the IV in in burretrol. It forces me to check the IV site hourly.

:loveya:

[wooh, BSN, RN]

We do 2 hours on the pump and in the buretrol. At least that's policy. I'm good about 2 hours on the pump. The buretrol... If I'm in the habit, then it's fine if I'm the one that resets it, but people not in the habit of doing it, (because it's rare that we're good about doing it) will go in and reset your pump to be helpful, and don't add to the buretrol. So then you've got air in the line. So I tend to put the 2 hours on the pump and not worry about the buretrol. Unless of course Joint Commission is around:p

[*ac*]

We do 2 hours on the pump and in the buretrol. At least that's policy. I'm good about 2 hours on the pump. The buretrol... If I'm in the habit, then it's fine if I'm the one that resets it, but people not in the habit of doing it, (because it's rare that we're good about doing it) will go in and reset your pump to be helpful, and don't add to the buretrol. So then you've got air in the line. So I tend to put the 2 hours on the pump and not worry about the buretrol. Unless of course Joint Commission is around:p

If you're going to put 2 hours on the pump and not worry about the buretrol than why use one at all?

[wooh, BSN, RN]

1) Because policy says I have to (there were problems with a couple pumps, and even though the problem's been fixed, they haven't changed the policy back yet.)

2) As I said in an earlier post, the buretrol tubing has 2 ports below the pump, the non-buretrol only has 1 port below the pump.

[SunnyAndrsn]

The small hospital I work at uses them with peds pts, up to around age 12. It forces the nurses to check the IV site hourly :-)

[wooh, BSN, RN]

There are ways to do the same hourly checks with an IV pump as well.

Yep, just set the pump for only an hour. :)

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

We use them on vasoactive drips, insulin drips, narcotic drips, etc. Basically, on drips.