The Student Room Group

Medical Equipment/Accessories for Nursing

Hiya,

Ive just started my first year in nursing and would like to know what medical equipment & accessories i need.

Thanks. :p:

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er not a lot

3 black pens, a fob watch and maybe a pen tourch (but you wont really use this until later on in the course)

You dont need much, no steths or syphgs..
personally a reasonable stethoscope is something i'd recommend, but there is no need to go all out for hundreds of pounds worth of highly specialist littman ...

2.99gbp ward steths are bug harbours and have poor acoustic performance ...

anecdotally i've seen people who claim they couldn't hear Blood pressure or bowel sounds have an epiphany when i've lent them a littman select

http://www.medisave.co.uk/3m-littmann-select-stethoscopes-royal-blue-p-1194.html

the first Littmann Select i purchased 10+ years ago still lives in my work bag ( with new ear tips) and another lives in my event kit ...

it's thirty pounds or so well spent and is a decent stethoscope when /if you start to expand your scope of practice ...

http://www.medisave.co.uk/3m-littmann-select-stethoscopes-royal-blue-p-1194.html

if/when you start taking blood or cannulating it's worthwhile to have a tourniquet or two knocking about - but these can often be blagged from exhibitions / reps , but other than those items and the pens, pen torch , watch and a head torch ( with red and white LEDs) for nights there's not a great deal else you should need in the hospital environment. i've never felt the need to use my sphyg(hich i have for event work) at 'reallife' work in the hospital as there is (OR SHOULD BE) manual sphygs easily available in all clinical areas
zippyRN
personally a reasonable stethoscope is something i'd recommend, but there is no need to go all out for hundreds of pounds worth of highly specialist littman ...

2.99gbp ward steths are bug harbours and have poor acoustic performance ...

anecdotally i've seen people who claim they couldn't hear Blood pressure or bowel sounds have an epiphany when i've lent them a littman select

http://www.medisave.co.uk/3m-littmann-select-stethoscopes-royal-blue-p-1194.html

the first Littmann Select i purchased 10+ years ago still lives in my work bag ( with new ear tips) and another lives in my event kit ...

it's thirty pounds or so well spent and is a decent stethoscope when /if you start to expand your scope of practice ...

http://www.medisave.co.uk/3m-littmann-select-stethoscopes-royal-blue-p-1194.html

if/when you start taking blood or cannulating it's worthwhile to have a tourniquet or two knocking about - but these can often be blagged from exhibitions / reps , but other than those items and the pens, pen torch , watch and a head torch ( with red and white LEDs) for nights there's not a great deal else you should need in the hospital environment. i've never felt the need to use my sphyg(hich i have for event work) at 'reallife' work in the hospital as there is (OR SHOULD BE) manual sphygs easily available in all clinical areas



oh for goodness sake, you really do give the most god awful advice
Reply 4
You really don't need much

Lots of black pens people will always manage to 'borrow' your pens with them mysteriously going missing! A red pen is always helpful for stuff during handover.

A fob watch, the rubber ones are really good as they're are so easy to clean

A note pad, a small one which fits in your pocket and doesn't way down your uniform

A pen torch is useful, even if your using it to search for hearing aids that have fallen out!!

If you want to you could get a stethoscope but to be honest you won't really use it much
Subcutaneous
oh for goodness sake, you really do give the most god awful advice


in what way is that advice 'god awful' ... or perhaps you don't know what you don't know

auscultation is an important clinical skill and is much under used by Nursing staff in the UK , and while a poor workman may blame his /her tools a modest investment in a decent stethoscope can pay dividends ...


davey jones
Zippy You Talk Utter ******* ****. ******* Events Bag. Suck My Cock You Sad Old ****.


was there quite the need for all the asterri there ?

as for my event work ... yeah whatever, obviously the hundreds of hours i spend working / volunteering to cover events are just a figment of my fevered imagination ... i'll remember that next time i'm AAA at a large crowd event ... or answering 999s and urgents for the Ambulance service
zippyRN
in what way is that advice 'god awful' ... or perhaps you don't know what you don't know

auscultation is an important clinical skill and is much under used by Nursing staff in the UK , and while a poor workman may blame his /her tools a modest investment in a decent stethoscope can pay dividends ...




was there quite the need for all the asterri there ?

as for my event work ... yeah whatever, obviously the hundreds of hours i spend working / volunteering to cover events are just a figment of my fevered imagination ... i'll remember that next time i'm AAA at a large crowd event ... or answering 999s and urgents for the Ambulance service



Do you have a clue about nursing education? Firstly you do NOT need a spygh or even a stethoscope, there are clinical skills lab the universities provide for free with drop in sessions for students, plus all wards have atleast one manual syphg. They are a simple waste of money for the student, when the university provides them free. Secondly, wtf a tourniquet, ah yes for the 2 universities in scotland that are the only ones that teach cannulation and venepuncture in the UK to pre-reg students.

Also get a grip, a pre-reg student will not be taught how to listen for bowel sounds etc, thats not the training

Please take your god awful abbreviations and pre-historic views and **** off

:h:
Subcutaneous
Do you have a clue about nursing education?


yes i do , as someone with SLiP ...


Firstly you do NOT need a spygh or even a stethoscope,


i'd agree with you that people do not need a Sphyg, which was why i said as much, i do own a sphyg but it stays in the kit i use for my pre-hospital work as i have no need to bring it into 'real life work' as i have access to several manual sphygs, several 'obs machine' type automatic BP and SpO2 machines and access to a variety of single and multiparameter monitoring ( e.g. mulriparameter datascoipe or standalong SpO2 , and 3 -lead ECG monitor machines )

a Stethoscope however is a valuable tool for the following reasons

ward stethoscopes are invariably the cheapest and most rubbishy that can be obtained ... usually to stop pilfering , because they are cheap and poor quality their acoustic performance is extremely poor and some people really struggle to hear.

they also harbour bugs - where your own tubes are as clean as you wish them to be , you know whose ears they have gone in

the acoustic performance of modestly priced Stethoscopes is far in excess of that provided by the cheap 2.99 gbp provided by the NHS.

you can pick the best eartips for your ears on your own tubes , this has an impact in reducing the impact of external noise as an influence.


there are clinical skills lab the universities provide for free with drop in sessions for students, plus all wards have atleast one manual syphg. They are a simple waste of money for the student, when the university provides them free.


and the relevance of that point ? the fact is even after practice, some people with normal hearing cannot adequately auscultate the things that it is expected that a nurse will be able to auscultate


Secondly, wtf a tourniquet, ah yes for the 2 universities in scotland that are the only ones that teach cannulation and venepuncture in the UK to pre-reg students.


as I clearly stated, if / when you you learn these skills ...


Also get a grip, a pre-reg student will not be taught how to listen for bowel sounds etc, thats not the training


yes they will, assessing bowel sounds is part of the basic assessment of a patient who has intra-abdominal pathology both pre and post op and as part of conservative management, it is also an essential part of the assessment of the acutely spinal cord injured patient

as is the ability to assess air entry at a basic level and to be able to record an apical pulse, this is also leaving aside accurate manual blood pressure recording ...


Please take your god awful abbreviations and pre-historic views and **** off

:h:


pre historical views? come now ...
Reply 8
Subcutaneous
Do you have a clue about nursing education? Firstly you do NOT need a spygh or even a stethoscope, there are clinical skills lab the universities provide for free with drop in sessions for students, plus all wards have atleast one manual syphg. They are a simple waste of money for the student, when the university provides them free. Secondly, wtf a tourniquet, ah yes for the 2 universities in scotland that are the only ones that teach cannulation and venepuncture in the UK to pre-reg students.

Also get a grip, a pre-reg student will not be taught how to listen for bowel sounds etc, thats not the training

Please take your god awful abbreviations and pre-historic views and **** off

:h:


Ah yes the doctrine of minimum possible for evermore.

Just because they don't spoon feed you dosn't mean you can't learn. Remember what I said about a school leaver on a one year course? :eek3:
Wangers
Ah yes the doctrine of minimum possible for evermore.

Just because they don't spoon feed you dosn't mean you can't learn. Remember what I said about a school leaver on a one year course? :eek3:



let me get this straight, you lot are up in arms when its a discussion about nurses doing medical asessments and 'THEY TOOK OUR JOBSS'- but you agree with them knowing how to do it.


Student nurse training has too much to do rather than learn how to do an extended role- a stethoscope is not at all required in pre reg training unless you want to buy your own manual BP, even then thats money down the drain
Subcutaneous
let me get this straight, you lot are up in arms when its a discussion about nurses doing medical asessments and 'THEY TOOK OUR JOBSS'- but you agree with them knowing how to do it.


Student nurse training has too much to do rather than learn how to do an extended role- a stethoscope is not at all required in pre reg training unless you want to buy your own manual BP, even then thats money down the drain


assessing the presence of bowel sounds is not an extended role...

chest assessment shouldn't be an extended role although people keep wanting it to be ...

your own stethoscope is not money down the drain ...
zippyRN
assessing the presence of bowel sounds is not an extended role...

chest assessment shouldn't be an extended role although people keep wanting it to be ...

your own stethoscope is not money down the drain ...



well i'm over half way through my degree and never have used a stethoscope for anything other than manual BP, and probably never will- im sure many other student nurses will tell you aswell
zippyRN

i'd agree with you that people do not need a Sphyg, which was why i said as much, i do own a sphyg but it stays in the kit i use for my pre-hospital work as i have no need to bring it into 'real life work' as i have access to several manual sphygs, several 'obs machine' type automatic BP and SpO2 machines and access to a variety of single and multiparameter monitoring ( e.g. mulriparameter datascoipe or standalong SpO2 , and 3 -lead ECG monitor machines )


This sounds like an awful lot of waffle for what could be summarised in "ward monitoring".

as for my event work ... yeah whatever, obviously the hundreds of hours i spend working / volunteering to cover events are just a figment of my fevered imagination ... i'll remember that next time i'm AAA at a large crowd event ... or answering 999s and urgents for the Ambulance service


:rofl:

Always knew you were a Jonnie. The perfect outlet for a frustrated nurse in some COTE/social ward to play doctor. Prehospital care my arse.

Become a zero year postreg nurse, get some "hierarchy" with The Company and voila! you are the "senior" member on the team, diagnosing and making treatment decisions!! Total joke.
digitalis
This sounds like an awful lot of waffle for what could be summarised in "ward monitoring".



that's exactly what it is , and exactly why spending money on your own sphyg is a waste of money - unless you have a need for one for other Work


Always knew you were a Jonnie. The perfect outlet for a frustrated nurse in some COTE/social ward to play doctor. Prehospital care my arse.


funny then that the majority of Active Nurses in the county i volunteer with have a background in Acute and Emergency care

my personal background is 9 months of Ortho and Trauma periop 4 1/2 years of A+E , 18 months of AAU, and 2 years of specialist neuro/ spinal acutes / rehab plus the urology and 'plastics' work that goes with the client grroup i working in a tertiary centre ...

as for 'pre-hospital care ' so what's ambulance support ? alternatives to 999 work ?



Become a zero year postreg nurse, get some "hierarchy" with The Company and voila! you are the "senior" member on the team, diagnosing and making treatment decisions!! Total joke.


what hierarchy are you referring to ? as No HCP is guaranteed a commission in SJA unless they fulfill the requirements of a valid job description and established post ... as several Nurses and Doctors have learnt to their cost in the past few years when their plain Grey or Red slides popped through the letterbox ...

the biggest joke is F2s expecting to get three pips out of the jamboree bag and assuming they are going to be the Clinical Silver at an event over a Nurse or Paramedic who was in clinical practice when they were still in infant school ...

you forget that lay members i.e. ETAs are expected to make clinical decisions in the same way that Ambulance technicians etc are ...
my personal background is 9 months of Ortho and Trauma periop 4 1/2 years of A+E , 18 months of AAU, and 2 years of specialist neuro/ spinal acutes / rehab plus the urology and 'plastics' work that goes with the client grroup i working in a tertiary centre ...


Oh great, any background in medical training so you are "competent" in making medical diagnoses? And 2 years in "spinal acutes" (whatever the **** that is) obviously didn't teach you much in terms of describing these poor sods: wtf is "the acutely spinal cord injured patient "? Awful grammar!

the biggest joke is F2s expecting to get three pips out of the jamboree bag and assuming they are going to be the Clinical Silver at an event over a Nurse or Paramedic who was in clinical practice when they were still in infant school ...


Clinical practice being a staff nurse. Erm, I'd take the F2 thanks. And what exactly can SJA nurses do in terms of definitive care for a sufferer? Not a lot. Oh yeah, they can do a BM over the standard Jonny. Great. I'll tell you what the biggest joke is: nurses getting "commissioned" (:rofl: did the Queen sign yours?) and becoming the "senior HCP on duty". Lawsuit waiting to happen.


you forget that lay members i.e. ETAs are expected to make clinical decisions in the same way that Ambulance technicians etc are


Another lawsuit waiting to happen.

Was at Liverpool Street station and some drunk woman had fallen down a set of stairs. Drunk as a skunk but clearly couldn't rule out a head injury, hypo, syncope etc etc as she was unrousable. Who turns up? The ******* polo pushers on the 999 shout! Who promptly whip out of their HUGE green backpack stuffed with bandages and an oxygen cylinder for added bulk hypostop and try to start rubbing it around?! I was like this is taking the piss, where is a paramedic crew!? Luckily an off duty med reg stepped in, shooed said Jonnies away and got a real crew on the job.

Now frankly, if I was the poor "ETA" who had turned up to that, I would be crapping myself. But no, fuelled by his uselessly oversized backpack and qualifications that are worth nothing at all, he charged straight in without batting an eyelid. Scary ****.
digitalis
Oh great, any background in medical training so you are "competent" in making medical diagnoses? And 2 years in "spinal acutes" (whatever the **** that is) obviously didn't teach you much in terms of describing these poor sods: wtf is "the acutely spinal cord injured patient "? Awful grammar!


training as a Medical Practitioner is not the only way to possess the 'level of skill of the ordinary man professing to hold that special skill '

the 'acutely spinal cord injured patient' is a correct and descriptive term for the patient group, you are demonstrating your lack of relevant professional knowledge there, in the way that a none trivial number of SCI patients are mis managed by none specialists ...


Clinical practice being a staff nurse. Erm, I'd take the F2 thanks.


so obviously the skills in physical assessment, wound assessment , IR(ME)R referrer and the like are fictions , obviously the internationally recognised professional development doucrses and and certificates of competence issued on behalf of employers berarign the signatures of Clinical directors/ trust med dir and Lead Nurses / directors of Nursing are fiction


And what exactly can SJA nurses do in terms of definitive care for a sufferer? Not a lot. Oh yeah, they can do a BM over the standard Jonny. Great.


hmm let's see ... how about working to their scope of professional practice or despite your assertions over the superior assessment skills of the medical practitioner you forget that nurses should have a base level of physical assessment skills and that other relevant physical assessment skills can be taught and applied ...


I'll tell you what the biggest joke is: nurses getting "commissioned" (:rofl: did the Queen sign yours?) and becoming the "senior HCP on duty". Lawsuit waiting to happen.


as HM the Queen is the Sovereign Head of the Most Venerable Order, and SJA is a constituent part of the MVO ... i'll let you draw your own conclusions where the Authority to Commission Officers in St John Ambulance is drawn from

also if i were you i'd check the rules on the wearing of Order Decorations in Other Uniforms ...


Was at Liverpool Street station and some drunk woman had fallen down a set of stairs. Drunk as a skunk but clearly couldn't rule out a head injury, hypo, syncope etc etc as she was unrousable. Who turns up? The ******* polo pushers on the 999 shout! Who promptly whip out of their HUGE green backpack stuffed with bandages and an oxygen cylinder for added bulk hypostop and try to start rubbing it around?!


really ...


I was like this is taking the piss, where is a paramedic crew!? Luckily an off duty med reg stepped in, shooed said Jonnies away and got a real crew on the job.

and precisely what would a 'real' crew have to offer this patient over and above an SJA crew ?



Now frankly, if I was the poor "ETA" who had turned up to that, I would be crapping myself. But no, fuelled by his uselessly oversized backpack and qualifications that are worth nothing at all, he charged straight in without batting an eyelid. Scary ****.


perhaps you ought to put your money where your mouth is, or are you intimidated by the thought of having your personal practice assessed by people other than Doctors and that wink wink , nudge nudge won't get you through because after all he is jolly nice chap and rugger team wneeds someone who plays in his position ...

also fuelled by his stack of oxford handbooks and a lack of qualification that says he actually competent does a Medical student or Foundation Doctor dare to criticise those who are deemed fully competent and whose skills would bear up in court... as F2s despite having 'full' registration are still required to work in approved practice settings
digitalis


The Queen does NOT commission St. ******* John Ambulance "officers".


as for you comment about Military personnel , how long have you served ?

Are you disputing the Fact that HM The Queen is the Sovereign Head of The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ?

hate to break it to you but the Queen does not physically sign every commissioning scroll in the Commonwealth ... although the signatures of the relevant persons from the service or organisation are 'real'.


OK aside from the ********* first line, you bang on about assessment skills. Congratulations, you can take a blood pressure and some auscultation. Now what? Are you up for attempting a medical diagnosis (careful now) and starting treatment (aside from bandaging of course).


let's see
wound assessment,
physical assessment of limbs and joints to assess soft tissue and bony injury ,
trauma assessment using ATLS methodology
physical examination of the Abdomen



Lol...competence eh. See when you graduate from medical school, you have this nice thing called a medical degree which you frame up and everyone admires. That is the definition of basic medical competence.


however it is not the Definition of Competence in skills or interventions required by the law, that being from Bolam Judgement and as modified by the Bolitho judgement, " the level of skill of the ordinary man professing to hold that special skill "


How would you like me to put my money where my mouth is? And all this rugby ****, another example of your inferiority complex. I don't even play rugby. :confused:


point missed , it's odd how Doctors and Medical Students wax lyrical about the superiority of their skills yet are reluctant to submit to external, validated, 'profession free' or ' grade free' assessments ...

it's notable how the period between graduating from pre-registration education and being allowed to play out on your own is lengthening for Doctors , with the requirement that the F2 year must be undertaken in approved training placements for someone to gain unrestricted Full registration with a licence to practice ...

it's also interesting how it if felt necessary for Doctors to have a licence to practice as well as professional registration indicating, that there are obviously problems with Doctors who cannot or will not recognise the bounds of their competency and currency
Reply 17
eesh.. i was quite interested in finding out what equipment id need when i start nursing :| feel a little put off now.. lol
Lt_Lemon
eesh.. i was quite interested in finding out what equipment id need when i start nursing :| feel a little put off now.. lol


it will depend on your speciality and where you are studying / where you eventually work

as can be seen by the attitudes displayed in the thread, what is considered perfectly normal in one workplace is seen as 'being a cocky tosser swanning around with your <expletive> stethoscope, pretending to be a doctor ' in another ...
Reply 19
Lt_Lemon
eesh.. i was quite interested in finding out what equipment id need when i start nursing :| feel a little put off now.. lol


Don't feel put off! Just ignore all of the arguing!

I'm in 2nd year and all I have needed so far is some little writing pads, black pens and a fob watch.

Over time you might decide you want to buy other things but anything else I have needed so far has been provided by the ward I've been on or uni. You might decide you want to buy the stuff other people have suggested, but don't rush in and buy anything before you start as the likelyhood is you'll waste your money!

They are the essentials that you need to start off with in first year! I especially advise the little books though! I never used one to start with and ended up with little bits of paper everywhere!

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