Does any one use an automated medicine dispenser in a hospital or surgery?

Question

If so are there any good points or bad points to the system and which system do you use

Answer 1

I'm not exactly sure of the name of the one we use.  I guess it's an alright system, but in an emergency when you need a drug that is not in the crash cart, you have to run back there and get in the system and get it.  This takes a while and slows down patient care.  Plus, you can get locked out easily, if you type your password incorrectly, and it takes a while before you can get back in.  There are also ways that you can inadvertently make errors about the number of a medication  you are taking, thereby charging your patient too much.  But I guess that it does have its pros, as no one can break into the machine and steal drugs.  It also keeps drugs that need to be cool at the right temperature.

Answer 2

Using one in a hospital or operating room would still require an employee to monitor it, so why not use the emp to administer the med????

Answer 3

Pangolin mentioned the Pyxis system and how well it works if the pharmacy keeps it stocked. Well, folks, she never had a roomie who was a Pyxis repairman!

I roomed with such a person who was on call for the entire region of southeastern Florida (Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties), and he ran his butt off, frequently for 18 hours straight. There was only one other guy who shared his territory.

All the hospitals and nursing homes which used the Pyxis system had multiple units; one per wing on every clinical floor, the ER, and OR area. That could mean as many as 40 units per hospital (or more).

So much repair was needed that the repairmen had almost no time for scheduled maintenance. During those times when repair was needed, drug delivery slowed to a snail's pace because the floor had to use the slower method of direct pharmaceutical deliveries from the hospital pharmacy, or a retail pharmacy (as in the case of nursing homes).

Many times, my friend would get a call from a hospital in the southern end of his territory, then one from the northern end, then ANOTHER one from the southern end a few hours later. It was extremely inefficient not only because of the time and distance factors, but also because of the unpredictability of unit breakdowns.

I hope these machines have increased their reliability in the last few years; I would certainly scrutinize the latest statistics prior to implementing this system or others like it.

My friend now services copiers; he gave up on Pyxis machines!

The best part of having such a roommate? He was never home!

Answer 4

We use one in our hospital, I just started there and I forget the name of the machine but it's similar to Pyxus but not that one.

The best thing about it is it helps provide safety checks and encourages careful narcotics counts, and it makes it easier to locate the meds. The worst thing is there is only one machine and lots of nurses who have meds to give!

Answer 5

One place I work uses a Pyxis system.  It works well, as long as pharmacy has stocked it.

http://www.cardinal.com/us/en/providers/...

Answer 6

I don't use one at home, however after major surgery, they give you a strong pain killer in your I.V.  

The best one, with no side effects is delaudlum....probably spelled it wrong, but it's been around forever.  I have had friends tell me they have had a morphine button which dispenses a certain amount of the drug in their systems....but morphine has many side effects, that is scary for most people.  

Also, you get very hyper sometimes on that stuff....and you see colors and have nightmares from what I've heard.  Go ask your Doc about the delaudlum, if that is something you need.  It would have to be given to you by a Doctor or hospital.