Scut supplies bucket

[orion1978]

How many of you actually have a "scut bucket" of supplies for performing scut? I saw an article on MD Consult that suggested that the MSIII and IV make a bag/box of supplies for starting IV lines, drawing bloods, etc to save time and work more efficiently.

I was curious as I had never seen a student do this at the medical school here.

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[southerndoc]

In my entire year as a third-year medical student, I never once drew blood. I only started one IV and that was on my psych rotation because a patient went unresponsive, had to call EMS, and the nurses were spasing out because they don't know how to start IV's. (I'm also a paramedic, so that's how I ended up starting the IV.)

Do JMS's actually start IV's anymore?

 

[Foxxy Cleopatra]

That terminology brings back some funny memories- we called it the "scut bag." Though the nurses usually started lines and did blood draws (hospital-dependent), we often found ourselves needing the scut bag for wound dressing changes. This was particularly true on surgical services- I'd keep 4X4's, Kerlix, Xeroform, Iodoform packing, little saline bottles, cotton swabs, tape, and scissors. A suture removal kit and staple remover are also nice.

I never had an analogous bag for blood draws and IV's (I occasionally started IV's, though pretty rare); I'd guess some syringes, needles, labels, collection tubes, & whatever sort of plastic-tipped caths your hospital uses would be a good start. As for fluid itself, most often it comes from pharmacy so I'd check with the nursing as to how things are done.

 

[DrQuinn]

Depending on the rotation, a student SHOULD have some supplies that may help the intern/resident/attending...

Well, maybe not SHOULD but having them does make it easier. Examples:

EM: Hemoccult cards and poop juice
Peds: Tongue Depressors
FP: Prescription pad
Surg: What Foxxy mentioned
Neuro: MRI machine

Q, DO

 

[LaCirujana]

Our med students (surgical services) have either a bucket or full-blown cart, depending on the service they are rotating on. They carry dressing supplies, like kerlix, xeroform, nu-gauze, Dakin's soln/NS, cotton-tip probes, staple removers and steri strips, etc. Toomey syringes for trouble-shooting NG tubes come in handy, as well. The supplies needed vary depending on the serivce. They also have the supplies available to draw blood off lines/ports (since our phlebotomy services suck a$$ and won't do it and won't draw the blood of any patient who has either of the above, even from a peripheral stick), along w/tubes and blood cx bottles. They also stock extra TPN order forms, MD order sheets, and progress notes, in case the lazy clerk happened to be on duty the night before and our patients' charts are not resupplied. Having this stuff available makes rounds go much more smoothly and efficiently and saves everyone from having to go back later and take down/redress wounds.

As far as the IV stuff is concerned, sometimes the students at the VA "get" to start IVs, but that's pretty rare. Usually, the IV access team does it, unless the pt is in the ICU, then the nurse does it. If either party is unable to place the IV, then the pt becomes a "MD referral," which makes me laugh--if people who put IVs in all day can't get it, what makes them think I can? The patient is going to have either an EJ PIV, or a central line by the time I get done with them.

 

[southerndoc]

Originally posted by LaCirujana
Our med students (surgical services) have either a bucket or full-blown cart, depending on the service they are rotating on. They carry dressing supplies, like kerlix, xeroform, nu-gauze, Dakin's soln/NS, cotton-tip probes, staple removers and steri strips, etc. Toomey syringes for trouble-shooting NG tubes come in handy, as well. The supplies needed vary depending on the serivce. They also have the supplies available to draw blood off lines/ports (since our phlebotomy services suck a$$ and won't do it and won't draw the blood of any patient who has either of the above, even from a peripheral stick), along w/tubes and blood cx bottles. They also stock extra TPN order forms, MD order sheets, and progress notes, in case the lazy clerk happened to be on duty the night before and our patients' charts are not resupplied. Having this stuff available makes rounds go much more smoothly and efficiently and saves everyone from having to go back later and take down/redress wounds.

They carry all that? Wow.

I guess if you also carry donuts and coffee on your cart you'd be loved by the team.

 

[ERMudPhud]

Originally posted by Geek Medic

Do JMS's actually start IV's anymore?

I think it must be highly location dependent. I was an MSIII not to long ago and I remember drawing lots of blood and putting in lots of IV's. I was even called "Blood Culture Boy" I always carried a fanny pack with IV/blood draw supplies, dressing supplies, guaic supplies. We would even scavenge stuff from the private hospitals to take with us when we went to the undersupplied city hospitals

 

[ERMudPhud]

Originally posted by QuinnNSU

Neuro: MRI machine

Q, DO

Things to do/order after ordering a neuro consult (sung to the tune of the alphabet song, you know A,B,C,D,E, F, G....)

CT, LP, EEG, MRI, EMG

'cause thats what everyone seems to get after the consult