Even as a surgical PA, I appreciate the consistent hands-on floor care the nurses provide with all the medications, fluids, procedures & empathic/ADL services they provide so also value & appreciate these instructional videos that not only are valuable for better understanding what it takes for the nurses to provide the care they do but also provide the seemingly simple care myself when there may be no nursing care frequently encountered in forward military operational environments. Thanks for helping me learn additional skills to care for patients!
Thank you so much. I passed the check off but never been really comfortable using them in clinical and my instructor walked me through each time. Now I can learn on my own and be a pro by fall.
Awesome video!!!!! I'm a new nurse, I start next Monday! I've watched quite a few of your videos they are a great refresher as well as insightful! Thank you for taking the time make produce content such as this. You're a life saver in more ways than one 🤗
Feeling some confidence to work where the Alaris pump is used. Thankyou for the video. I learnt some. Will have to watch re-runs of the video and other videos to feel more comfortable.
Please note that the tubing is not loaded correctly. The filament on the top of the module needs to fit in the groove. If not, the pump may not administer the IV fluid or medication correctly. Alaris provided education around the country about this important issue in loading the tubing. Thank you!
Are you referring to the second pump - the one that had a line in it at the beginning of the video? I did not check it at the start of the video as I was focused on pump a
This is probably a dumb question but I am curious about why you programmed the pump at 200mL instead of the actual volume of the solution (250mL)? Why not just program the pump to the volume of 250mL? What is the rational for "leaving room?"
Great question! The bag has 250 ml before I prime an IV line. Many lines will take up to 20 or 30 ml to prime, reducing the volume in the bag. If I use 200 ml, then when the pump alarms, it is 1) not empty and this means no air in the line and 2) it gives me time to get another bag as I can program a few more minutes of infusion
@@NurseMinder Ahhh I see! That clears things up as I was always unsure of why this was done. I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly! I'm starting my final term of nursing school next week (preceptorship) and your videos have been very helpful for review and as prep :). Thankyou!
I used to work in a facility that used the Baxter Sigma pump. I work with Alaris now in a different facility. I definitely prefer the Baxter by far for several reasons. One reason: as far as I can tell the Alaris pump cannot be reprogrammed without turning it off. Say, the first antibiotic is complete and the patient needs another, the pump has to be turned off then on again, select same patient, the care area, then find the second drug in the drug library, etc, etc. Do you know of a more efficient way?
if the 1st abx has completed and the primary is running again, as stated in the prior answer, you do not need to turn it off. Program as usual. However, I do find the need to turn off when I'm running a tko primary NS waiting to hang blood. When I have the blood, I can't find a way to program it w/out turning off the NS and restarting to program the blood. Am I missing something?
That is a great question! For small amounts of added fluid, we typically don’t add it to the vtbi. If you are adding a larger volume the you would. Of course we have to consider the size of the bag. 10 ml added to a 50 ml bag is different thana 1000 ml bag. Depending on your agency policy, you may find both will be accepted
It has been a while since I worked with it - for sure it will show volume remaining, maybe someone watching can confirm if you can switch to time v volume
If you put more than total volume the bag empties and air is in the line. I can see the rationale. If using a secondary bag multiple times, you back prime anyways to remove the air from the line. The amount of volume in the line is usually 10 to 15 ml so I would not program for more. If its a med infusion, a primary line should flush the remaining med in anyways
No. The medication should be followed by another solution like normal saline or ringers lacate to ensure all the medication is infused. That being said, practice can vary depending on where you work and the policies in your agency
It is a great question. the bag is 250 ml when full (before priming the line) Priming the line could use 15-20 ml, leaving the bag will around 235 ml If you enter 250, the line will run dry and will need to be changed If you enter 200 ml, the pump will beep and there should be a little left in the bag Three benefits 1. The IV line will remain primed and ready for another bag 2. The remaining volume (20 ml) can be programmed in and the patient continues to receive fluids while you have time to collect a new bag 3. Saves you time and stress
