nursing bag

nursing bag

A nursing bag, also known as a healthcare bag, a public health bag, a medical bag, a visiting bag, or a supply bag, is an important part of providing care to patients at home and has been a part of home visits for decades.

Any nursing bag technique consists of two essential components: making sure it is clean and stocked with the right things to stop the spread of germs and infections as you go from one place to another. We break down the best method for keeping your nursing bag as germ-free as possible and explain the essential items you should always have on hand.

How to Stock Your Nursing Bag

Because you don’t want to forget anything in your nursing bag, we’ve listed 12 must-have items below as well as advice for selecting one.

• The Bag Itself: Selecting the kind of bag you require is the first step in stocking your nursing bag. Your nursing bag’s material is crucial; Despite the fact that many bags have a tough exterior made of canvas or another material, fabric—even treated fabric—cannot be thoroughly sanitized by wiping it down. You ought to select a bag that has an exterior surface that is hard and not porous, such as vinyl or leather, and that can be disinfected with a quick wipe-down. In terms of the interior, you’ll need a variety of different-sized pockets to store the various items below. Check to see that the straps or handles are comfortable and simple to wear.
• Stethoscope: With a stethoscope, you can listen to the heart, lungs, bowels, and other parts of the body for signs of irregularity. They should be included in your nursing bag as soon as possible because they are some of the most essential pieces of equipment for any medical professional. Consider purchasing an engraved stethoscope to really up the ante and let everyone know which bag belongs to whom.
  Blood Pressure Cuff: Wrapping a blood pressure cuff around a patient’s arm is a standard part of any basic medical visit, just like using a stethoscope to check the heart and lungs. A blood pressure cuff should be included in every nursing bag; you can even personalize your own with embroidery or emblems for added flair.
  Thermometer: A thermometer is an essential item in any nurse’s bag for at-home visits with patients of all ages, and it probably brings back memories of fevers from childhood. After each use, sanitize the unit and dispose of the plastic cover with care.
  Nursing Scissors and Tape — Medical gauze, dressings, bandages, and other materials can all be cut with scissors. If you always have nursing scissors on hand, you can deal with any wound care in an emergency. Your medical tape, which can be used to keep an IV or bandage in place, should be right next to your scissors.
  Single-Use Items: Alcohol prep pads, adhesive remover pads, disinfectant wipes, paper towels, adhesive bandages, and personal protective equipment like gowns, face masks, and face shields are examples of single-use items that are intended to be thrown away after one use for hygiene reasons.
• Sharps Container: The sharps container should not be placed in the bag but rather in an external pocket because it stores used needles and other contaminated items; It can be carried separately as well. However, the sharps container should not be overlooked because it is an essential component of any home nurse’s kit.
  Tourniquet: Ideally, you will never need to use a tourniquet, but in the event that you do, you should always have one or two readily available so that you can act quickly in an emergency.
  Lotion and hand sanitizer: Nurses wash their hands several times a day. Lotion can combat dryness and stop the skin from cracking and peeling. In a pinch, hand sanitizer will also assist you in eliminating germs and other infectious agents.
  Hand Soap and Disinfectant: If you have room, bring hand soap and disinfectant with you so that you can clean your bag and yourself as you go from place to place if necessary. You can wipe it down and go with a nursing bag that has a hard, nonporous exterior.
  Gloves: Wearing disposable gloves will protect your hands and reduce the need for cleanup after handling contaminated materials or disposing of them.
  Medical books: It’s always a good idea to keep trustworthy medical references with you in some way, whether you have a physical copy or a digital version through an app on your phone. When you keep that pocket-sized version of Gray’s Anatomy in your nursing bag, you can easily access all of your go-to resources.

  Pens and Paper: The majority of nurses prefer to carry some kind of writing instrument, such as highlighters, pens, pencils, a small notebook, or a nursing clipboard, so they don’t have to fiddle with their phones or laptops when taking notes and writing down patient observations. Additionally, many nurses prefer to carry a penlight to provide additional illumination and evaluate student response.

How to Clean Your Nursing Bag

• Now that you know what to put in your nursing bag, you need to know how to clean it properly and how often. Keeping the bag clean and storing it in a clean environment will help you stay in compliance with laws and regulations because proper bag technique centers on the prevention of contamination of the bag itself. Additionally, it will assist in lowering your risk of spreading bacteria.

How Often to Clean Your Nursing Bag

• There are no national or international guidelines requiring you to clean your nursing bag on a regular basis; Regulations are set by each hospice and home care organization. The bag should be cleaned once a month at the very least, and disinfected once a week is ideal. No matter what schedule you are on, the bag should be cleaned right away if it is clearly stained.
• Additionally, you should regularly clean your stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, thermometer, scissors, and other reusable items that go inside the bag. Before returning these items to the nursing bag, you should disinfect them after using them on each individual patient. After the last home visit or even weekly, other nurses clean them. If they are clearly soiled, these items should also be cleaned right away, just like the bag.
• There are those who argue that nursing home bags ought to have a “clean” and a “dirty” side, where items that are clean and soiled are placed back in the bag, respectively. However, “dirty” items should be disposed of appropriately rather than returned to the nursing bag; As a result, the sharps container is either carried separately from the nursing bag or in an exterior pocket. Cleaning the bag and its contents will be easier in the long run if used items are kept outside the bag. This will prevent the spread of germs and other contaminants.

What is the nursing bag method?

• Definition. The bag technique is a tool that makes use of a public health bag. During the nurse’s home visit, the nurse can use this tool to perform nursing procedures with ease and skill, saving time and effort in the process of providing effective nursing care.

What can be found in a nursing bag?

• The “Essentials” consist of a water bottle, a badge, an infant stethoscope (I have disposable ones for our little heart kids), any book I’m reading, O’Keefe’s lotion, DayQuil, Benedryl, Immodium, and Pepto, a folder containing materials related to annual competency and audits, a phone charger, an umbrella, and a planner.

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