You’re a nurse who needs to transport medical equipment. What’s the best way to do it?

Transporting medical equipment requires careful consideration to ensure the safety and integrity of the equipment. As a nurse, make sure to communicate with other team members involved in the transport to ensure a coordinated effort and inform relevant parties about the transportation schedule and any special requirements for the equipment. In addition to this, always follow specific guidelines provided by your healthcare facility, the equipment manufacturer, and any relevant regulatory bodies to ensure the safe and secure transportation of medical equipment.

Determining what type of equipment will need to be transported is first to figure out first. This will be helpful to figure out how the items will need to be transported and what will be required for the move.

Selecting the right sized cart is important to ensure it fits your needs. Comparing options and details like how the items are secured, sizing, rolling devices, etc. are important to consider before purchasing.

To prevent injuries and breaking equipment, it is important to follow all safety guidelines. Also important to review instructions for use and not just assume how the cart operates.

The equipment that you need should be called down to before you even get there to save your time. It helps if you can to bring someone else to help you bring up the equipment that you need. Requesting from a manager or leaders on your unit to supply an appropriate cart would be best. However, if you can't, a good work around is to find any rolling C.O.W. that you can and place the equipment on it. Secure it as best you can to bring bring it back up to the unit in one piece.

Normally, it was not the nurses job to haul around large carts full of equipment. The main carts we used were the IV cart and the crash cart. Each day the crash card was inspected and tested. We also checked for appropriate supplies. Carts were routinely sent to central supply to be restocked and returned. IV carts are always compact, organized and stocked with supplies as needed. Very little was set on the top that could topple off during a trip to the room. I personally never got my supplies out until I was in the room. That way patients and families saw me taking out new, clean supplies for their loved one and of course, nothing got dropped during the course of the move.