2025-09-29 – Weekly Nursing News : IV pumps sense when you sit

Last week in the nursing community, discussions centered around practical ways to enhance daily workflows and improve patient care. Members shared time-saving tips for handoffs that could streamline shift changes, while others explored the significance of staffing ratio adjustments and whether these changes are taking root. Additionally, there was a lively exchange on managing continuing education requirements efficiently, a perennial challenge for many.


This Week’s Hot Topics

Are staffing ratio changes actually starting
A critical discussion is unfolding about whether staffing ratio changes are being implemented and what this means for workload and patient care.
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Drowning in PDFs before clinical
Many are sharing their experiences with being overwhelmed by documentation before clinical shifts, seeking ways to manage the paperwork load better.
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Keeping CE organized before renewal
Members are exchanging strategies for organizing continuing education credits, a task that often feels daunting as renewal deadlines approach.
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IV securement that actually stays put
A practical discussion on effective IV securement methods, which are essential for patient comfort and reducing complications.
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Tiny headlamp beats penlight on nights
Night shift nurses are finding that a small headlamp is more effective than a penlight, sparking a conversation on improving night-time care.
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IV pumps sense when you sit
An intriguing thread about IV pumps that seem to know when nurses take a break, prompting a mix of laughter and frustration.
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A simpler way to track CEUs
A new method for tracking continuing education units is gaining attention, promising to make life easier for busy nurses.
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Buried ledes everywhere
A playful yet insightful critique of communication styles in nursing reports, shedding light on the importance of clarity.
Read more here


Until next week, keep supporting each other and sharing your valuable experiences. Your contributions make this community a resourceful and supportive environment.

For handoffs, we run a 60-second SBAR per patient with a timer — saves us about 10 minutes at 1900 even when ratios are rough. > penlight on nights Night shift nurses are finding that a small headlamp is more effective than a penlight, sparking a conversation on Yup — cheap clip-on headlamp + color-coded line tags beats a penlight at 0300, and , I swear the pumps alarm the minute I sit. Only caveat: aim the light at the floor and use red mode so you don’t blast the room, @nightshiftcrew.

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Small change that stuck for us: a 90-second bedside “drips + lines check” at 1855 where we read the pump rates together and jot one “watch item” in the EHR handoff box — way less 1900 chaos, … If staffing is thin, we do the same check at the door instead and keep it under 2 minutes. @penlight have you tried I-PASS or this AHRQ handoff page? https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/resources/handoff.html.

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Since the pumps ‘know when you sit,’ we do a 2-minute alarm sweep at 1858 — clear soft alarms, make sure pump names match the bed, and slap on pre-labeled tubing — so nights can start charting without constant dings. @jay3875 your timer pairs well with it; caveat: if ratios are ugly, charge has to spot-cover for those two minutes or it fizzles — anyone else try this?

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Quick win we use: I built a one-click Epic SmartPhrase that pulls current infusion rates, access sites, and last bag-change time, and we run it at 1852 before the sit-down chaos — . It cuts the “pumps know when you sit” alarms by flagging expiring bags and mismatched device names; if your EHR can’t, a pre-filtered MAR print at 1850 worked almost as well. Anyone else, @penlight, tried auto-highlighting titratables so nights see what’s truly active?

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We started a tiny step at 1850: the off‑going nurse adds a bit of blue tape under each running pump with the handwritten ‘next bag ETA’ (e.g., 2030) and one target like ‘MAP >65,’ so nights aren’t inheriting a dry bag right after report. Small caveat: we skip it on rapidly titrated weight‑based drips because the estimate gets stale.

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Quick example: at 1855 I check each pump’s event log for repeat ‘air-in-line’ or occlusion hits and reroute tubing or swap the cassette so it doesn’t chirp through report, . If a primary is under about 25%, I pre‑spike the next bag and slap a dated sticker so nights can swap in seconds; when supplies are tight, I just flag it in the handoff. Building on @jay3875, this tiny pre‑report pass has cut the alarm storms in those first 5 minutes of report without adding much time.

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