Please note this urgent message from the National Alert Network (NAN) for Serious Medication Errors. The National Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP) is distributing a NAN alert to warn practitioners about the potential for serious or fatal errors with epinephrine, caused by the current shortage of epinephrine emergency syringes. EPINEPHrine emergency syringes…
A few months ago, I blogged about intraosseous (IO) access – see IO made easy. This type of vascular access is experiencing tremendous growth and is beginning to gain acceptance as a true alternative access for infusion therapy. However, I think many nurses are still hesitant to consider IO access as a viable option for…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting healthcare professionals not to use certain intravenous (IV) bags of metronidazole, ondansetron, and ciprofloxacin because of potential contamination. FDA has received reports of floating matter in IV bags manufactured by Claris Lifesciences Limited, in Ahmedabad, India. Microbiological analysis identified the matter in one of the bags…
One of the great things about attending an annual nursing specialty conference is learning about new technology, new information, and new training methods to acquire skills. This year at the INS Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, I had the opportunity to attend a simulation lab for IO insertion using medical cadavers. Although, I have…
A common question I get asked by nurses is…..do I need to obtained an informed consent from a patient who is receiving infusions of biologic agents such as Remicade (Infliximab)? An informed consent, according to the American Medical Association (AMA), is the communication process between a patient and his or her physician that results in…
I have always speculated that medication errors and near misses outside of hospitals and acute care settings have been under reported or perhaps never reported at all. Here’s a case that I was made aware involving an RN who added a medication to a 250mL bag of Sterile Water(unintentionally) and administered by infusion via a…
..is a good motto to live by. It is the Boy Scout’s motto (Be Prepared) and growing up, this was my mother’s motto (thanks, Mom). 🙂 In nursing, we were taught to always be prepared for anything and as professionals, we’ve been hard wired to live up to that motto. As nurses, we are expected…
In the past 12 years, we have seen an increase in new monoclonal antibodies approved by the FDA for numerous indications as treatment options for cancer, neurologic disorders, immunologic, and autoimmune diseases, to name a few. These monoclonal antibodies are administered either subcutaneously, usually self administered by patients or administered intravenously by a registered nurse…
This week, I posted on Twitter an article I saw in the American Nurse Today about “Calculating IV drip rates with confidence”. For an infusion nurse, calculations of drip rates and drug concentration is a given with the nature of my job. I didn’t realize that some nurses don’t calculate rates or don’t even know…
An FDA press release stated that Acacia Inc. voluntarily executed a product recall of certain lots of IV Extension Sets with BD Q-Syte™ Luer Access Device. The BD Q-Syte™ Luer Access Device is a Needleless Valve manufactured by BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company). The IV Extension Set with BD Q-Syte™ Luer Access device is intended…
Infusion Nurse Blog 