…to be a registered nurse practicing in the United States of America. Over a week ago, along with other professionals from 35 countries, I had the opportunity to attend the first World Congress on Vascular Access (WoCoVa) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The conference was well organized, packed with great speakers, lectures, and exhibits all going…
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…
I have numerous nursing colleagues with extensive background and years of experience in infusion nursing, infusion therapy, and vascular access who are now directly employed by entities defined by the American Nursing Credentialing Center (ANCC) as “commercial interest”. ANCC defines an entity that has a “commercial interest” as any proprietary entity producing health care goods…
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…
These terms have always been confusing and perhaps like many other nurses, sometimes, I can’t figure out which one to use. In infusion therapy, particularly with Fluids and Electrolytes and IV solutions, these two terms certainly have important roles and understanding each term will be helpful to us. Osmolarity and Osmolality are both units of measurements.…
Inspired by the weekly #RNchat and a nurse colleague, @philbaumann, welcome to the infusionRNchat on twitter – #IVchat. The “infusionRNchat” or @IVchat or #IVchat is a global on line chat on Twitter for RN’s and other health care providers involved in the specialty practice of infusion therapy, infusion nursing and vascular access. For more information…
External infusion pumps, commonly called “infusion pumps”, including large volume, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) , elastomeric , syringe , enteral, and insulin pumps, are used worldwide in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, and in the home. Infusion pumps have contributed to improvements in patient care, allowing for a greater level of control, accuracy, and precision in…
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…
Infusion Nurse Blog 