Choosing the right medical gear as a nurse is essential for being able to work effectively and comfortably in a medical environment where long hours, lots of standing and handling ill and injured patients is a normal, daily responsibility.
It’s also extremely important to have the right equipment in order to assess their patients condition, stay organized, stay connected with their team and keep track of time.
Below is a list of some of the most common nursing gear used at hospitals and health care centers.
SCRUBS
Scrubs are very popular in the nursing community and rightfully so.
Scrubs are comfortable to move in, light, easy to clean and easy to remove which is extremely important in the medical profession, especially when working with sick and injured patients.
After working in scrubs it becomes apparent how much of a hindrance jeans and long sleeve shirts can be.
NURSING SHOES
While shoe’s may not sound like an important topic to discuss they can make a big difference in a nurses life.
Nurses generally work 12 hour shifts which involve a lot of standing and walking so having a comfortable, breathable, light pair of walking shoe’s with lots of support can make a huge difference at the end of the day.
Poorly chosen shoe’s can cause serious back and foot pain when used for long periods of time.
STETHOSCOPE
Having a high quality stethoscope is an extremely important piece of equipment for nurses and doctors as it allows medical specialists to listen for heart and lung abnormalities, and is one of the quickest and most useful ways to detect physical problems in their patients.
MEDICAL BAG/TOTE
Medical bags and totes are essential in the nursing field as the are necessary for being able to carry around all of the nurses medical equipment.
This can items such as a medical planner, stethoscope, dressing scissors, thermometer, pulse oxometer, batteries, medical tape, saline flushes, telemetry calipers, writing utensils, hand sanitizer/alcohol wipes and other cleanliness products, lotion, PDA, smartphone and/or tablet, snacks, water bottles, lunch and other essential/nonessential item.
Without a proper medical bag it would be difficult for nurses to manage all of their duties effectively and efficiently.
MEDICAL HANDBOOK/GUIDE
Medical reference/handbooks and pocket guides offer nurses invaluable on the go information to help them make better decisions and avoid mistakes in their healthcare setting.
A good reference books will help nurses follow the best medical procedures, understand the proper use of drugs/medications and their potential reactions, maintain quality healthcare guidelines and improve patient care through research and best healthcare practices.
In fact many nurses carry handbooks/pocket guides to help them remember important healthcare information and provide them with quick references so they can make better decisions in the workplace.
PEN LIGHT
Pen lights allow nurses to check and gauge pupil dilation which can help them get a better sense of their patients condition such as whether or not they are conscious and/or if there are any cognitive abnormalities with the patient.
By being able to quickly assess these possibilities it give nurses a better idea of what type of ailment their patient may be suffering from and can help the nurse decide what types of questions they should ask to find the route of the problem.
SMART PHONE, PDA OR TABLET
In today’s day and age being able to record important medical data, keep track of various medical tasks and easily communicate with other healthcare professionals within a health care facility such as a hospital or nursing home is extremely important.
Being able to get in touch with a nurse who is in another room can mean the difference between life and death in health care and wireless digital devices give doctors and nurses more ways to communicate with one another and understand what’s going on so that they can address important issues immediately.
Smart phones and tablets are becoming powerful tools for helping healthcare professionals explain complex medical procedures that they need to patients understand and makes it easy for health care specialists to find references to drugs and medical equipment and/or procedures which helps minimize mistakes and provides patients with a more accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.
Whether a nurse needs to look up a medical reference, record their work shift for the week, send of important healthcare data to a doctor or healthcare provider, or answer a page/phone call from a team member having a wireless devices such as a smartphone, tablet or PDA can make the workplace a much more effective environment.
HAND WATCH
Nurses have to be extremely coordinated and having a good sense of time is a must in this profession.
Watches allow nurses to focus on and separate the various important tasks in their daily working lives and helps them designate a specific amount of time to each of their tasks.
Without a watch it would be almost impossible to keep track of what’s going on and how long they been working on a task.
WRITING UTENSILS
Pens, Pencils, clipboards, paper and medical forms are all necessary to help nurses keep track their patients conditions and manage the progression of their health.
Without being able to document patient and medical information nurses would not be able to properly assess, diagnose, track and treat their patients, and they would not be able to organize the various important tasks that they are responsible for handling.
DRESSING SCISSORS
Dressing scissors are an essential tool that is used to cut bandages and medical tape
for dressing wounds or removing old bandages.
The medical scissors that nurses use are typically small stainless steel scissors designed for easy carrying and made specifically for cutting medical materials.
Most dressing scissors are also designed to be rust proof and may have a non stick surface coating to prevent them from getting stuck or sticky when being used.
BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR
Blood pressure monitors are vital for getting a quick reading on a patients blood pressure level.
Nurses may carry a lightweight portable blood pressure monitor with them as they move from room to room in order to
check their patients heart rate or blood pressure.
Some nurses purchase their own blood pressure monitor so they’ll always have their own device and be able to have easy access to blood pressure readings when they are on the go.
THERMOMETER
An easy to carry portable thermometer is a great way for nurses to quickly check a patients temperature so that they can diagnose potential healthcare problems quickly.
Having an accurate thermometer with a digital reader is very useful for helping nurses get precise readings when they are needed.
PULSE OXIMETER
Pulse oximeter’s are very small
useful digital devices that nurses use to check a patients pulse.
These devices can be placed on a patients finger in order to get accurate blood oxygen saturation levels and pulse rate readings.
The ultra portability of this device makes it an ideal item for nurses to carry on them when they need to obtain important medical readings of their patients.
HAND SANITIZER/ANTISEPTICS
Depending on the healthcare center a nurse works for and the materials they use at their facility a nurse may carry their own hand sanitizer/antiseptics with them when they go to work, or their job may provide them with their own special hand sanitizers.
As is commonly known in the medical field hand sanitization is an extremely important part of medical care and is necessary for preventing
germs and other harmful materials from infecting patients and/or the nurses assisting them.
