Pyxis for the uninitiated

14 hello all!

I've been reading these threads for years, and for the most part have managed to translate your american qualifications, medications and abbreviations into australianisms well enough to understand what it is that you're saying.

However, it had just occurred to me that there is one thing that you all talk about that is beyond me..

The pyxis machine.

but it's ok, in my head i've worked out what it looks like and how it works:

it looks like the lovechild of a dalek and C3PO, with lots of shiny chrome and blue lights and has a little drawer that pops out with whatever medication you may require at the touch of a button.

am i close?
I WISH. Ours is a gray hulk that opens drawers, which have compartments with lids that only open if they're the correct med. It chirps like a bird. It only opens for you if you smoosh your big greasy fingerprint on the lens.

Quote from goats'r'ushello all!I've been reading these threads for years, and for the most part have managed to translate your american qualifications, medications and abbreviations into australianisms well enough to understand what it is that you're saying.However, it had just occurred to me that there is one thing that you all talk about that is beyond me..The pyxis machine.but it's ok, in my head i've worked out what it looks like and how it works:it looks like the lovechild of a dalek and C3PO, with lots of shiny chrome and blue lights and has a little drawer that pops out with whatever medication you may require at the touch of a button.am i close?

The pyxis is also another HUGE duty nurses must take on.Now we have to dispense our own meds! Very time consuming.

Our pyxis looks just like the one in the link posted above, but it didn't have little drawers. Only big ones with individual compartments that were quite temperamental.

I like the pyxis machine, I use to hate the old med carts and looking for keys. Our pyxis machine doesn't have lids like described above, it just pops open the drawer and non-narcotics meds are there. You select the medication you need from a patient profile that it takes from the MAR. It charges the patient directly. If you need a narcotic it swings around this turnstyle pockets, gives you access to only a certain pocket, then you count, take how much you need, then you shut drawer. It keeps a record of who is going into which drawers/pockets and if variance comes up pharmacists will come see you.We have an option for fingerprint verification or password verification. I use a password, finger prints don't work well w/ mydry hands. I don't mind pulling my own meds, I do it at the start of my shift so I don't have to wait in a line, takes me about 5-10 minutes to grab all my meds for most part. There are also pyxis machines that stock supplies in the hospital. This also allows you to charge the patient for supplies and it prevents theft and keeps good inventory. I think the whole system is great.

The machines I've seen have some big drawers with smaller compartments (the machine tells you which # compartment to get your meds from, and how many you're supposed to remove) for the "basic" meds (vitamins, minerals, HTN meds, antacids, etc.). Then other drawers which have a lid on each compartment (for the "controlled" meds) and only the lid for the drug you're pulling will be unlocked. Those are the ones you do a starting count for, then pull your meds, then push the lid so it locks again. Then there's also a refrigerated unit that unlocks and tells you which shelf/bin to retrieve from, and another section (either in a separate unit or a lower drawer of the Pyxis) that has patient-specific meds that the pharmacist stocks just for cases of non-standard meds that aren't normally kept in the Pyxis (like a piggyback antibiotic or just some weird drug for some weird disease).

I didn't mind the pyxis systems, except for one thing - I would like to see that all of the AM meds for a particular patient were in one compartment. This would save some time, I think.It becomes an issue when multiple nurses need to access the pyxis at the same time.

Dont imagine any more PYXIS CUBIE VIDEO 2009 - YouTube

Quote from goats'r'ushello all!I've been reading these threads for years, and for the most part have managed to translate your american qualifications, medications and abbreviations into australianisms well enough to understand what it is that you're saying.However, it had just occurred to me that there is one thing that you all talk about that is beyond me..The pyxis machine.but it's ok, in my head i've worked out what it looks like and how it works:it looks like the lovechild of a dalek and C3PO, with lots of shiny chrome and blue lights and has a little drawer that pops out with whatever medication you may require at the touch of a button.am i close?

This is funny - I'd made up my own picture in my head of what this strange thing called a pyxis must look like too. After looking at the links I see I was totally wrong! For some reason I imagined see through doors or drawers because how else would you know what was in there? Lol.Goats'r'us's (too many apostrophes) version sounds better though - it could say 'EX TERM IN ATE.... EX TERM IN ATE' if you took out the wrong drug!

I love the Pyxis machine as a new nurse it can help you get stat or prn drugs without having to fax things to pharmacy then bite your nails waiting.Our Pyxis in Toronto Canada uses bio id (fingerprint) and have a lot of long compartments that open when you choose the drug patient etcThen there is a smaller compartment in the larger one that also pops open I honestly think it gives nurses more autonomy. If you need that patient to get a stat antiemetic you have it available even at 2 am Just my 2 cents

Aside from all that....the first time you use one and you have the model where a drawer slides out and then it has further compartmentalization.....well, its kind of like "the price is right" crossed with "whack-a-mole." Lets see what the firrrrrrrrst med is today behind door number 27! Yessssssireeee, you get metoprolol 50 mg. Now, whack that door shut and see what pops up next....oh yess, omeprazole 20 mg behind door number 13! Yippeeee......The game show pressure comes from the other contestants (errrr nurses) waiting for their chance to try their luck!And when you have a lovely little lady with 18 am meds, well sometimes it feels like getting the meds and doing the checks will be just as long as her need to take them one pill at a time with a whole bunch of water (wait for it!) and then need the bathroom.Seriously, I actually do like the system and the ability to override a telephone order med at 0300 after calling the hospitalist, and it is pretty fast considering all the meds are in single dispense blister packs (as opposed to opening containers).Still, that "plink" of each drawer opening and the "thunk" of shutting it for each med has always made it feel like whack-a-mole. Our system has three full cabinets with about 25 drawers apiece and at least 5 meds per drawer, plus a narc dispenser, so sometimes just figuring out which one will pop open next is half the fun!