Nursey gadgets

To some of you, this post will show you nothing new. However, if you haven't spent significant time in a hospital, I'm using this post to familiarize you with some of the things that nurses use every day- mostly just the fun stuff. Thanks to my sister for this idea.

This is a saline flush. Basically, it has sterile salt water in it. We use it to flush your IV to make sure it still works. Also, after we give you a medication through your IV, we flush it with one of these bad boys to get the medication out of the IV and into your system.

This is my stethoscope. I got a pink one because it donated 10 dollars to breast cancer research if I bought this color and then I felt a little bit better about the ridiculous amount of money I had to spend on it. :) I use the stethoscope to listen to people's hearts and lungs and stomach noises.


This is a telemetry or heart monitor. We attach the box to your chest with some of the wires attached to your chest. This systems monitors your heart rhythm. It detects the electrical activity in your heart and puts it on the screen for us to read. If you're wearing one of these, we apologize for the times we have to bother you in the middle of the night to replace batteries or put one of the stickers back on.

This is a carpuject. We put vials of medication in here to give through your IV- mostly pain and anxiety medications. I keep one of these in my pocket every night. Either I end up using it every 2-4 hours or I don't use it at all.

These are the best. They are caps that attach to central lines. Central lines are basically long term, amped up IVs. Instead of going into a small vein, they go into a major/ central vein. Some central lines can last for years while others are just for a few weeks. A big problem with central lines is infection, so you have to be very careful. These little caps have alcohol solution inside of them so they are automatically cleaned when you take them off. They make life much easier.

These machines are my worst enemy. They are bipap machines that help you breathe. There are lots of different settings, but it has the potential to help push air into your lungs and also help you get it out. Unfortunately, they are a pain in the rump. They are bulky and loud and the patients hate them.


This is an IV. When we put an IV in, we are trying to get it into your vein. We poke you with a needle that is surrounded by a plastic catheter or tube. When we get it in the vein, we actually remove the needle so all that's left is the plastic. We know it hurts, and we know it's annoying, but on my floor it is required. In case of an emergency, we need to be able to get medications directly into your bloodstream- especially if you can't swallow.

I recently discovered that we keep these in our supply room. They are little aprons that we can give confused patients to keep their hands busy. Ask them to thread the loops or zip things up. Sometimes, it works wonders. Other tactics I've seen are handing confused patients some washcloths and asking them to fold them or asking them to copy a grocery list. This helps them feel like they are being useful.

This is a hoyer lift used to get patients out of bed. It's difficult to use so we mostly use it for extremely heavy patients that we can't move any other way. If it were easier to use, it would save a lot of back pain.

I couldn't find a good picture, but this shows a call light that is activated by blowing into the mouthpiece. We use this for patients who are quadriplegics or have other physical issues.

These are called SCDs or sequential compression devices. We attach them to your legs, every once in a while they puff up with air, and they keep you from getting clots in your legs by promoting circulation. Some people hate them cause they keep them awake at night. Other people like them and think they feel like a massage.

This is a bedpan.