Recently, I have had a few questions regarding implanted ports so I decided to post it here in the spirit of sharing and learning . Q: A patient asked: why is it that sometimes my nurse wears a mask to access my port and sometimes they don’t? Should they or should they not wear a…
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…
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…
At a recent meeting, I was asked by an RN what her liability is if she administered an approved intravenous drug for an non-labeled indication prescribed by a physician to her patient and does she have the right to refuse to give the treatment even with the patient consent? A very interesting question and one that…
According to the INS Standards of Practice, stabilization of vascular access devices shall be used to preserve the integrity of the access device, minimize catheter movement at the hub, and prevent catheter dislodgment and loss of access. A catheter stabilization device is a device/system specifically designed and engineered to control movement at the catheter hub, thereby decreasing catheter movement…
as in discontinuing (removal) a central venous access device. Certainly, many of us have discontinued a central venous access device (central line) before. No big deal, right? One key element to remember when discontinuing a CVAD is to include precautions to prevent air embolism. Air embolism from removal of central lines can occur when a…
By now, we should know the difference between a vein and an artery, right? I hope so, because we’ve learned this in nursing school unless you’ve forgotten those trivial matters, like names of veins and arteries. This could be the case especially when you don’t often use the names of the veins and arteries in…
..many facilities/organizations have them, some don’t. Many nurses know what their IV policies and procedures are, others don’t have a clue or don’t even know they should have one. Others say…yeah, we do have them but here’s what we do! Borrowed from a previous post- “Terms of Confusion” about Policies and Procedures: Policies are the established rules…
In the past, we have routinely replaced peripheral IV catheters every 48-72hours. Since INS 2011 Standard for Infusion Nursing revised it to site rotation based on clinical indications, PIV site assessment is even more important now. So how frequent should you assess the patient’s peripheral IV site? According to the latest Position Paper from the Infusion…
Yes, if you haven’t heard yet, that over the counter acetaminophen in a bottle you have in your medicine cabinet, is now available as an intravenous infusion . IV acetaminophen (Ofirmev) is indicated for the management of mild to moderate pain; the management of moderate to severe pain with adjunctive opioid analgesics; and the reduction of fever. It…
Infusion Nurse Blog 