What is your favorite nursing gadget (can be practical and necessary, like your stethoscope or nursing shoes, or just for fun).
I admit that I am a bit of a freak about office supplies in general, and nursing things in particular. I don't take much to work with me, but I am really particular about my favorites. For example, I love these EKG calipers. I have the green ones. I don't know why. It's not like they do magic tricks or anything. I just coveted them for a long time til I caved in and bought.
Nurse gadget that I am very picky about is the needle and syringe. I get annoyed when we get the cheap junk on the unit. I want a 23G 1 1/2 inch needle for most IM's. Ativan and Long Acting's need a 21, but the 2 inch ones give me the heebee geebees but I'm getting used to them. I also appreciate the bent in half safety on the ones we have now. We did have some wierd safety mechanisms on the first ones to come out 10 years ago. I remember a push, pull and click one that actually increased your chances of getting stabbed.
Transparent tape...not paper, not anything else...seems to pull out less hair.
And Sharpie pens....they're my most favorite pen ever! The ink is dark like a regular Sharpie, but it doesn't bleed through the paper. Now all they need is a RED Sharpie pen.
They DO!
I WAS buying my Sharpie pens at Walgreen's, but had to make a trip to OfficeMax and found a 4 pack of them.....black, blue, green, red. Heaven. :)
I WAS buying my Sharpie pens at Walgreen's, but had to make a trip to OfficeMax and found a 4 pack of them.....black, blue, green, red. Heaven. :)
And they're even cheaper at Wal-Mart
I love hemostats. They are my favorite tool both at home and work--I use them to fix things DH can't, LOL
This isn't a gadget, but I love that everything I need is right at hand at work. Tegaderm? Oh, right there in the drawer. Rubber bands? Right next to the Tegaderm. Magic drawers, gotta love it. My family has magic drawers at home, too, but since I'm the magician who fills them with clean clothes, somehow they're not as much fun for me....
"my multicolor pen... I can keep track of things that need to be done on a time schedule vs basic pt info when I get report... all I have to do is quickly look over my paperwork and I can easily spot reminders for meds, labs, specimens, accuchecks, etc... I *heart* my multicolor pen..."
Well, I used to feel that way about my multicolor pen, except I couldn't ever find a use for green ink. So when I went to throw the pen away, I had a hard time doing so, knowing that there was a full well of green ink (OK, so my dad was a depression baby and taught me well!).
Seems to me that overall, nurses and their pens are not to be messed with!
It's definitely not the most useful/functional gadget we have, but for whatever reason, I love my retractable badge holder. It'll be even better when they (finally) make my NICU a locked unit, and I'll be able to use the thing to swipe in. Makes me feel like a government operative or something Oh, and it has a metal bit where I can hang my personal preference of pen: Pilot G-2 retractable mini gel pens; they're only about five inches long, short enough to be convenient but not too short for comfortable writing.
I am actually using my iPod Touch! I love this gadget. No camera or phone, so it is allowed in the facility and to be used in patient's rooms. I use a cover for the body of the iTouch and a clear cover for the screen, so it can be wiped down safely after each use.
My Palm TX. Why? Have about 11 nursing books on it; from labs, to drug book to medical dictionary, to disease, and so much more; all in a touch of the screen. The best part? It is free from the university I am affiliated in.
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Morning-glory
258 Posts
I love my PHD mechanical pencil.
Nurse gadget that I am very picky about is the needle and syringe. I get annoyed when we get the cheap junk on the unit. I want a 23G 1 1/2 inch needle for most IM's. Ativan and Long Acting's need a 21, but the 2 inch ones give me the heebee geebees but I'm getting used to them. I also appreciate the bent in half safety on the ones we have now. We did have some wierd safety mechanisms on the first ones to come out 10 years ago. I remember a push, pull and click one that actually increased your chances of getting stabbed.