I work in surgery where we do not use pumps (unless it is a critical infusate like potassium or cardiac meds). At what age or weight should we be using buretrols for pediatrics? INS only sites a rate. Also, up on the nursing floors, we are still using buretrols along with a pump. Is a pump all we need in this instance? I cannot find clear advice on this, especially when not using a pump.
There is no magic age for using metered chambers. In fact, there is a decrease in their use and many concerns raised about them. There is no need for an infusion pump and a metered chamber, in my opinion. But you must have someway to double check the pump to make sure it is infusing correctly. Adding meds to a metered chamber is a huge problem. How do you ensure that the chamber is properly labeled when the med is infusing but not labeled when it is finished. Go to www.ismp.org and do a search, but use the generic term instead of brand names such as buretrol or soluset. Lynn
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
126 Main Street, PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861
I agree with Lynn - there is more evidence to say the use of the buretol (burette) in children when using a pump is far more risky - when I tried to gain support to change our practice of having the buretol removed from the line system I met with a huge outcry from the nursing clinicians - so I gave up! Ingrained practices are difficult to change so it would be good to stop it before it is cemented into their daily work.
Karen Rankin
Clinical Nurse Consultant
the Children's Hospital at Westmead - Australia