OK- need some help with ancient nursing history

2 When did sharps containers show up... I don't remember them in nursing school, but they must have been there....(1983-1985)

What about IV pumps for just about everyone?

I do know about Pyxis- the vendor filled the thing with candy to get us to practice with it before actually putting it into service


I feel old....for my next birthday, I may ask for carbon dating
I graduated from nursing school in 1992 and there were sharps containers in all rooms throughout my time in school...so here they were around at least in 1989.

The containers we know today came out around 1980. Needles were often tossed into the trash along with everything else prior to that. Throwing them into the trash was a hard habit to break along with recapping. Use of the sharps container was definitely stressed by 1985. We stopped using glass syringes about that time also.Early IV pumps go back a couple of centuries with modern advancement for today's models taking off in the 1950s after developments made during WWII and even WWI.

All I remember for sure is around (approximately) late 1980's when the safety IV cathalon's were introduced, the stylette retracted into the handle. Prior to that the needle was just left lying around HOPEFULLY in an out of the way safe place while tape was applied, drip started. etc. I remember some staff insisted these new IV's were harder to use, didn't like them, we intentionally kept some of the "old" IV cathalon's around for patients who were a hard stick. Almost 100 percent of the safety features introduced in the 1980's came about due to AIDS. Sadly ironic benefit of that awful disease.

As a student & then RN during the early 80's, we had med carts with individual bins that we rolled from room to room. After giving an injection we would insert the needle into a slot and pull a lever to slice the needle from the syringe before dropping the barrel into the larger slot. This was a small container mounted on the cart, with a large container mounted in the dirty utility room and in the nurses station.

We had sharps containers in 1987 when I started. IV pumps existed but my hospital only used them in ICU until 1990, when we saw 1 or two on the floor. Central lines were just barely starting to be used and definitely only in the ICU.

XT-you make me giggle. I adore you...I used to see older nurses stick a used needle into the bed mattress for safekeeping till they were done with the task at hand. Thank GOD for sharps containers. GreyGull-we still have glass syringes. Our MSO4 and heparin still come in glass syringes that we have to use a Carpuject to draw up. At first I thought they were just hard plastic syringes, but the ones we have at my hospital are indeed glass. Oh, and speaking of glass, I HATE GLASS AMPULES! I cut myself ALL the time on these darned things. I will never forget the time when my pt coded in the PACU and we broke out the crash cart. I can't remember now what drug I was drawing up, but I cracked the ampule and the top splintered, cutting me in the process. I can't think of a worse time to have to discard a med and draw a new one up while gloving my bleeding hand. Pyxis machines are the bane of my existence. I understand the rationale behind them, but when a surgeon wants a certain drug (I work in the OR, so when a surgeon needs Surgicel, they need it yesterday) I can't help but get irritated when I have to stand in line behind 2 other nurses/CRNAs to get the daggum Surgicel. Our scrubs are now delivered via Pyxis. Many times, the linen services person does not load the scrub Pyxis in a timely manner, and the only choice of scrubs available are 3X. I am 5'6" 130#. I look like a homeless person when I have to wear scrubs this big. I like the IV pumps for everyone. Takes the guess work out of formulas and drip factors. It has been a LONG time since I have used one of these, however. XT, did you ever use computerized charting?

I graduated from college in 1984 and we had sharps containers at that time. Most of them had you cutting off the needle and then putting the rest of the syringe in another container, sometimes it was made of heavy cardboard....and occ something sharp would poke through, not the best design, lol. The biggest problem was when there was a code and we'd use a lot of syringes of meds. There were needles everywhere, and it wasn't uncommon to see a nurse or resident in a hurry, uncap the needle with teeth, inject, and put the empty into the mattress. NOT accepted practice, but it happened pretty often. IV pumps were widespread at that time, too. My first job out of school was in the SICU of a large teaching hospital, and the pumps were actually pretty similar to what I've seen used recently when I did an RN Refresher course. In the mid-80's the only patients I saw that didn't have an IV pump were the ones with an IV with a very slow rate, just to keep vein open, that sort of thing. The pyxis was after my working time, and I last worked fulltime in 1993. In both ICU and L&D, we kept stock drugs on the floors and would even add our own KCl, MgSo4, Pitocin, and other meds to the IV bags ourselves.

"Almost 100 percent of the safety features introduced in the 1980's came about due to AIDS. Sadly ironic benefit of that awful disease"Sad, but true. When I first worked in ICU, we didn't wear gloves to start IVs, suction patients, empty gastric suction containers, any of that. Most gloves were sterile and then just used to protect the patient from infection, not the staff. Within a few years, we were all wearing gloves, masks and even goggles/eye shields. Even when working in L&D at first, gloves weren't mandated or widely available in boxes like they are today. I remember having to scrape the vernix from a newborn from under my fingernails after a delivery, when I was the one to dry off, assess, band and print the baby.

Quote from greygullthe containers we know today came out around 1980. needles were often tossed into the trash along with everything else prior to that. throwing them into the trash was a hard habit to break along with recapping. use of the sharps container was definitely stressed by 1985. we stopped using glass syringes about that time also.early iv pumps go back a couple of centuries with modern advancement for today's models taking off in the 1950s after developments made during wwii and even wwi.

Quote from canesdukegirlGreyGull-we still have glass syringes. Our MSO4 and heparin still come in glass syringes that we have to use a Carpuject to draw up. At first I thought they were just hard plastic syringes, but the ones we have at my hospital are indeed glass.

Quote from canesdukegirlXT-you make me giggle. I adore you...I used to see older nurses stick a used needle into the bed mattress for safekeeping till they were done with the task at hand. Thank GOD for sharps containers. GreyGull-we still have glass syringes. Our MSO4 and heparin still come in glass syringes that we have to use a Carpuject to draw up. At first I thought they were just hard plastic syringes, but the ones we have at my hospital are indeed glass. Oh, and speaking of glass, I HATE GLASS AMPULES! I cut myself ALL the time on these darned things. I will never forget the time when my pt coded in the PACU and we broke out the crash cart. I can't remember now what drug I was drawing up, but I cracked the ampule and the top splintered, cutting me in the process. I can't think of a worse time to have to discard a med and draw a new one up while gloving my bleeding hand. Pyxis machines are the bane of my existence. I understand the rationale behind them, but when a surgeon wants a certain drug (I work in the OR, so when a surgeon needs Surgicel, they need it yesterday) I can't help but get irritated when I have to stand in line behind 2 other nurses/CRNAs to get the daggum Surgicel. Our scrubs are now delivered via Pyxis. Many times, the linen services person does not load the scrub Pyxis in a timely manner, and the only choice of scrubs available are 3X. I am 5'6" 130#. I look like a homeless person when I have to wear scrubs this big. I like the IV pumps for everyone. Takes the guess work out of formulas and drip factors. It has been a LONG time since I have used one of these, however. XT, did you ever use computerized charting?

Quote from LisaMR"Almost 100 percent of the safety features introduced in the 1980's came about due to AIDS. Sadly ironic benefit of that awful disease"Sad, but true. When I first worked in ICU, we didn't wear gloves to start IVs, suction patients, empty gastric suction containers, any of that. Most gloves were sterile and then just used to protect the patient from infection, not the staff. Within a few years, we were all wearing gloves, masks and even goggles/eye shields. Even when working in L&D at first, gloves weren't mandated or widely available in boxes like they are today. I remember having to scrape the vernix from a newborn from under my fingernails after a delivery, when I was the one to dry off, assess, band and print the baby.