January 25, 2013….National IV Nurse Day

Recognition of professional practice or specialty may come in many different ways. In 1980, the professional practice of infusion nursing was formally recognized when the United States House of Representatives declared January 25 as IV Nurse Day. This recognition was the beginning of what the infusion specialty has become. Specialization marks the advancement of nursing practice. It…

It’s Q&A Time…..

On a regular basis, I get questions from readers and from Twitter colleagues. Here are some of the Q’s and my A’s which I thought I’d blog about it in the spirit of sharing and learning. 1. Vancomycin Q: We give Vancomycin IV on a regular basis through an IV site in the arm at…

R-E-S-P-E-C-T….PIV

Peripheral IV (PIV) placement is one of the common IV procedures performed by nurses (and other healthcare practitioners)  in hospitals and other healthcare settings, including long-term care, outpatient, and home care.  Perhaps because of its simplicity, many nurses have underestimated the risks involved with PIV placement, care and maintenance. I often hear them say, “it’s just a…

2013…Happy New Year

As I have done in the past years, I’d like to share the top ten most read blog post in 2012. 1.“Just say No”…the most read post of the year and has been the most read blog since 2009. This is about  avoiding the antecubital fossa when starting IV’s. 2. “Is there a difference? Osmolarity vs. Osmolality” –…