Index IntroductionBenefits of the Alaris Pump and Pneumatic Tubing SystemRisks of the Alaris Pump and Pneumatic Tubing SystemOpinion/ConclusionReferencesIntroductionTechnology is changing and evolving rapidly in the context healthcare. In intensive care units (ICUs), technology is especially important as nurses must manage extremely ill patients. Technological advancement can help reduce costs, improve outcomes, streamline workflow, and facilitate the accessibility of information (Huston, 2019). Many different technologies are presented in the Smart Hospital Pavilion videos to demonstrate how they can be implemented in hospitals, with a particular focus on intensive care units, and how this technology impacts workflow and patient safety. In the video I discovered that the Alaris pump and pneumatic tube system are beneficial technologies not only for patients but also for nurses. However, with any technology, there are always risks that need to be considered. This article will discuss the benefits and risks of the Alaris pump and pneumatic tube system and explain why I support this technology. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Benefits of the Alaris Pump and Pneumatic Tubing System In the critical care environment, nurses must start many different infusions at once to keep patients alive, such as vasopressors and fluids, which is one of the reasons why hospitals they decided to use smart pumps, such as the Alaris pump. These pumps are used for intravenous infusions of nutrients, medications, and fluids and have drug libraries and dose error reduction systems installed within them for safety purposes (Giuliano, 2015). The main advantage of these pumps is the prevention of medication errors. With safeguards programmed into these pumps, it protects patients and nurses should nurses accidentally enter incorrect dosing information into the pump. Nurses no longer have to perform drug calculations avoiding confusion and errors because built-in drug libraries allow nurses to choose the drug by entering the required patient information and then the pump calculates the infusion rate for the nurse (Giuliano, 2015) . Other benefits include pump alarms, which alert nurses that something is wrong and allow patients to be proactive in their care. These pumps are designed to alert you if there is a blockage or air in the tubing, if the infusion is completed, or if the infusion has not started in a primary line, all safeguards for patients and nurses (FDA, 2018). Once these alarms are heard, nurses enter the patient's room to correct the error or patients call the nurse due to the constant alarm. Another challenge of being in the ICU includes the need to quickly dispatch labs to properly treat emergency patients and receive needed medications from the pharmacy. The Smart Hospital Pavilion video presented another technology that also has many advantages in the hospital, known as the pneumatic tube system. Normally in intensive care nurses collect the samples and have to take them directly to the laboratory or wait for someone to take them. This practice distances nurses from their critical patients and increases wait times for critical labs. According to Kapoula et al. (2017), thePneumatic tube system reduces laboratory turnaround time and, since the sample is sent directly to the laboratory from the hospital unit, it allows nurses to concentrate on patient care activities. Dr. Neil Halpern also says the pneumatic tube system provides immediate tracking information for ICU staff, specifying when needed items arrive in the ICU or when they arrive at their destination. This technology enables critical care nurses to provide quality care in a timely manner and increases the hospital's quality of service. Risks of the Alaris Pump and Pneumatic Tubing System It is important to recognize that new technologies also involve risks. The Alaris pump startup is not updated often, forcing nurses to schedule fluids and medications without safety measures that leave room for error. Research has shown that drug-related adverse events are linked to incorrect or incomplete programming, especially when it comes to administering backline medications as pumps are unable to determine whether the medication is working or not (Kapoula, 2017 ). Since the Alaris pump does all the work, nurses are using their critical thinking skills less and less when administering medications which can also cause a potential error. For example, the pump may malfunction or have an incorrect programmed infusion rate, and the nurse may ignore safety controls resulting in a medication error. The FDA (2018) stated that while user error may occur, “the most common types of problems reported have been associated with software defects, user interface problems, and mechanical and electrical problems.” These errors can occur if nurses rely solely on available technology to assist them. Regarding the pneumatic tube system, the main risk due to the research comes from the configuration of the system. The pneumatic tube system works by sending cylindrical containers through networks of tubes using compressed air or partial vacuum (Woodford, 2019). Many samples are sent through this transport system, especially blood samples that can be altered due to "pressure forces such as sudden accelerations/decelerations, high speeds, changes in air pressure generated by the vacuum system, [and] blood movement in tube testing and vibration” (Kapoula et al., 2017), forces subjected to samples, particularly blood samples, can lead to common errors due to hemolysis and even render samples unusable. This error causes a delay in patient care, putting the patient's life at risk and forcing nurses to double their work. Keep in mind: this is just one example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now / Conclusion Through my clinical experience, I have been able to use both the Alaris pump and the pneumatic tubing system and have seen firsthand the benefits of these technologies. While I still think there are risks, the use of the Alaris pump and pneumatic tubing system has been shown to have more beneficial qualities than negative ones. According to a study conducted by Van der Sluijs et al. (2019), the use of Alaris pumps was able to reduce medication error rates from 17.7% to 2.3% in the ICU. This percentage from this study attests that smart pumps work and are a technology that keeps patients safe. Regarding the pneumatic tube system, a study showed that out of 15,851 samples of