Ask the Clinical Instructor:A Q&A column for those new to the cath lab

It depends on a lot of things. One of the things that matters is this: is your lab an open lab or a closed lab? This means are vendors allowed in the rooms or not? This is determined by the managers and/or physician director. Some places do not allow vendors in the lab. They may feel as though this is influencing decisions and would rather not have them there. Some labs (open labs) may ask for the vendors in the room in order to have someone there who has specific product information to help them make decisions about the equipment they are using and what is best for the patient. One of the other aspects that influence whether a vendor is in the lab can be you. If you are monitoring a case and the vendor is too loud and you need to concentrate, you can ask them to leave. You are collecting data for the physician, who needs to use this info to help the patient. If you cannot collect decent data, this is not going to help the patient. If vendors are in the labs, they should be quiet while they are waiting for the physician to ask them a question about their product and how to use it. Offering info before they are asked is okay, as long as it does not interfere with the case. Vendors can be a tremendous help, especially when using new equipment. They have been inserviced on the equipment and are there to be the expert for your facility during that visit. Use them the best you can, take advantage of the inservices they give and ask all the questions you have. For when the vendor representative is away, it is a good idea to have a champion in the lab who knows the equipment. It will help the staff and the patient to have someone around who knows what to do and is comfortable with the equipment. Still learning about the wide variety of patients that visit the cath lab? Could your question be one that others share as well? CLD can help. Submit your question to: Rebecca Kapur at rkapur (at) hmpcommunications. com

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