Your Favorite Nursing "Hack"

[canadianedmurse]

Wondering what everyone's favorite nursing hack or tip is in bedside nursing?

I think most of these things you do everyday and you don't realize until someone watches you or you are teaching a student and they go "No way, I've been doing xyz the whole time!". Lets see if you can share a trick of the trade.

[SoCalRN1976]

Not really a hack but something I learned long ago. Make sure you have your tools at hand. I never worked the floor without my silly little pocket organizer.. it held a penlight, kelly clamps and a handful of saline flushes. a few bandages, and a roll of tape on my stethoscope.

[Snatchedwig, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

-Pressing f8 on the computer bypasses a lot of crap.

- Fanny packs

- gum ( relaxes me and makes me not curse as much when I'm annoyed)

- pack of pens in my bag , I have pens everywhere

[River&MountainRN, ADN, RN]

Reminding myself that a. You can't care more than the patient, b. Patients are allowed to make stupid decisions, and c. You don't have to like all of your patients. It's saving me a lot of grief and I wish I could have developed those "mind hacks" to save myself from a lot of grief sooner.

[Kitiger, RN]

Protect your back. Use a lift to do transfers anytime a lift is available. Get help to reposition heavy patients (and be willing to help others). Raise the bed so you can use correct body mechanics when doing bedside procedures.

Speaking of body mechanics; never twist while lifting, use your larger muscles (lift with your legs), don't arch your back while lifting. Protect your back!

Strengthen your core muscles.

[caliotter3]

This is pertinent to my area in home health: remembering that the patient/employer do not own me during my off duty time, so I do not answer the phone or otherwise respond when I should be doing something else, like eating or sleeping. Awhile back my employer had me so wrapped around the axle that I almost had to see my PCP for anxiety/malaise. I had forgotten to keep my private time private and paid the price healthwise. Needless to say, they didn't care. Since that time, nobody thought it necessary to inform me that I would be out of work for a week when my client went on vacation last month. That taught me a valuable lesson about who thinks my time and convenience are important, and who does not. Everyone probably needs to remember whose responsibility it is to take care of Number One.

[TigraRN]

Burping NS bags to save the tubing if a second bolus is needed later.

[_littlemissBSN, BSN, RN]

- Using a condom catheter when collecting urine sample from incontinent male patients instead of straight catheterizing them.

- Putting ice on gloves as an alternative ice pack for a cold compress on small areas like post IV sites (where patient often complains about) or any small affected areas. I feel the ice bag we have is too big.

- Putting a glove over my stethoscope when auscultating (actually got this from a doctor lol). It can get inconvenient to clean them every after use especially when I have to do this several times a day. The glove doesn't hinder me from listening to breath/heart sounds and I do this mostly to avoid forgetting to wipe my stethoscope down after use.

Off the top of my head for now.

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

Double gloving when going into isolation, especially if I'll be doing something messy like cleaning up stool or emesis. It's such a hassle to take off your gloves once they become visibly soiled, then have to completely degown, regown and start over again.

Honestly, even double gloving any time I know I'm going to be in the middle of a super-messy situation (like a code brown). Again, it's so much easier to be able to peel off a visibly soiled layer and keep going than to have to stop what you're doing and step away to get a new pair of gloves. If I'm in the middle of a stool explosion, I want to get the job done as fast as possible. Sometimes if I'll even triple glove if I'm feeling enthusiastic.

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

I just thought of two more hacks that are helpful for patients with a ton of lines (i.e. ICU patients).

The first is related to line-wrangling. If I've got lines that are tugging or falling off the bed, I'll tie a tourniquet very loosely around them, then use a hemostat to clamp them to the bed linens. This also works really well when ambulating or transferring these patients (in my case, often getting them out of a crib for parents to hold). It's way easier to tie 10+ lines together with a tourniquet and move them as a collective whole then keeping track of 10+ individual lines. In my experience, this also makes the lines less likely to tug during the transfer.

The second is related to emergency push lines. In my ICU, each shift the nurses designate which IV site we'll use to push code drugs in an emergency (i.e. figuring out ahead of time while line doesn't have vasoactive drips). Here's the hack: whenever I've got a patient with really complicated lines, I'll put a small piece of brightly-colored tape on my 'push line' cap so I can quickly identify it in an emergency. It's also helpful so you can explain to others where the push line is (i.e. if you're handing off the patient before your lunch break).

I recently had a patient with a triple-lumen IJ, *two* double-lumen PICCs, a central art-line, and two PIVs; that's 10 separate vascular access points, including four seperate lumens that were running drips, and the a-line where you obviously wouldn't want to accidentally push some epi. This patient was likely to code at any given moment, and I made d*** sure that I had my push line clearly labeled so I could find it immediately if she were to code.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Adventure, I'm going to use your tips. I always have in my mid where the push line is, but I like the idea of tagging it!

In nursing school we spent a couple hours with a physiotherapist who demonstrated lots of tips for lifting and transfers. Basically, you use your body weight as counter traction to the patient instead of just muscles. I haven't had a back injury yet, and I credit that class. Your manager might be interested in having an education day and inviting physio to attend.

[righteousjenn]

To make sure you have no air bubbles when priming your tubing don’t prime too fast, turn ports downward as fluid is flowing past them and give them an extra flick at the same time. No air bubbles at all... saves a lot of time