A Nursing Assistant's Online Journal

Getting the vital signs of the patient before is a little bit time consuming for nurses. Almost all instruments used monitoring the overall health condition of an individual are mechanically operated. But when advances in medical technology came, digital hospital and home medical equipments were invented.

Medical instruments play crucial roles in saving the lives of people. They are purposely designed to monitor health under difficult conditions. And with digital hospital and home medical equipments, these brought great convenience particularly for the part of nurses most especially on times when there are a lot of patients to attend to. These modern instruments are usually designed with high precision and fast response time. While for the part of the patient, modernize hospital and home medical equipments likewise offer them better comfort than traditional ones.

From a simple thermometer and blood pressure device, all these modern hospital and home medical equipments feature the basic systems of a digitally operated device. And that includes a power/battery management system, control and data processing unit, amplification, amplification and A/D conversion of the sensor input, display units and sensory element. No wonder why modern medical instruments are much better and safer to use.

By the way, I have hear some of the common hospital and home medical equipments that go digital:

Digital Thermometer

Digital Blood Pressure Device

Digital Pulse Monitor

Portable Glucose Meter

Similar to other healthcare facilities, nursing homes are also equipped with a number of medical equipments that will help caregivers or nursing assistants like me to effectively carry out our every day duties to people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living. Below is a list of home medical equipment and products essential in my duty. By the way, I work in an assisted living type of nursing home care.

Sphygmomanometer – This serve as a blood pressure device in order for me to accurately monitor the BP reading of my client. Through this, I am able to save my patient from possible hypertension or hypotension. Blood pressure device comes in various types but I feel more comfortable the one with an analog manometer.

Heart Monitor – Portable heart monitor is another important home medical equipment for me when working in nursing homes. Through this, I become aware the heart condition of my patients.













Wheelchair – The wheelchair is among the important ambulatory devices for those who cannot walk. But aside from them, I also use wheelchair to safely and comfortably transport my patient from one place to another. Wheelchairs are available in two types – automatically operated and manually operated. From these two types of ambulatory device, I am at ease in using a manual wheelchair to my patient.






Crutches – This is another essential mobility device for my patients who have mobility impairment or an injury that limits his or her walking ability.
















Gloves – They are part of the personal protective equipment required for every healthcare workers like me. Gloves help protect my hands from being exposed to harmful germs and bodily fluids, which often causes cross-contamination.













Disinfectants – Preventing the spread of infection is always the first priority in healthcare facility. This is the reason why every healthcare worker should have with them a disinfectant like hand sanitizer, antibacterial soap, antibacterial wipes, and sterilizer solution in order to keep ourselves, the facility, and the equipments clean.









Forceps – This handheld, hinged instrument is intended for grasping and holding objects. Its functionality is something that a healthcare professional truly appreciate because without this device, it is very difficult too large fingers to grasp small objects or to hold several objects at one time yet the other hand is busy performing other tasks. The forceps also help in preventing cross-contamination.














Scissors – This is one of the medical instruments for cutting. Scissors comes in different types and the bandage scissors is the one that I commonly used. The said cutting instrument features an ergonomically designed blunt tip at the bottom blade to prevent accidental injury when cutting bandages.

Monitoring your blood pressure regularly provides a number of benefits. First, it lets you make early diagnosis of abnormal blood pressure level.   From the BP monitoring result, you and your doctor are able to determine what is the best care or treatment for your condition. Another advantage of checking your blood pressure is that it makes you become more responsible at the same time boosts your self-control. Being at risk of hypotension or hypertension likewise enables you learn how to avoid those things that will aggravate your condition. And with that, you gain a stronger sense of responsibility. Moreover, maintaining your BP reading within normal level definitely reduces your healthcare expenditure.  

Checking your BP level is not possible without the aid of a blood pressure device called sphygmomanometer. It is one of the most important medical instruments that should always be found in every home. The sphygmomanometers, just like any other hospital and home medical instruments, have also undergone series of improvements. The first type of BP monitoring device was invented by Samuel Siegfried Karl Ritter von Basch and this instrument is universally known as mercury sphygmomanometer. After this, a BP device with manometer or an aneroid sphygmomanometer is then discovered. When electronic devices become popular, digital or electronic blood pressure devices are also introduced in the market.  This latter version of sphygmomanometer is offered with manual or automatic inflation.

Although more innovative and user-friendly blood pressure devices are now offered in the market, many healthcare professionals, including myself, still prefer to use mercury sphygmomanometer for some reasons. First of all, this medical instrument cannot be decalibrated so you do not have to clean or repair it regularly. In terms of reliability, you can expect that this type of blood pressure device will always give you a consistently accurate result. Additionally, the mercury sphygmomanometer is cheaper than the modern styles.