Universal precautions has been around since 1983 (then called “Blood and Body Fluid Precautions”) and as defined by CDC, are a set of precautions designed to prevent transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and other bloodborne pathogens when providing first aid or health care. Under universal precautions, blood and certain body…
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…
IV tips posted on Twitter March 2010 Infiltration: Checking for blood return or back flow of blood is good for patency but not a reliable method for assessing infiltration at IV site. If infusion continues to run when you apply digital pressure 3 inches above peripheral IV site in front of catheter tip – suspect…
Back in nursing school, we weren’t allowed to have our fingernails visible over the pads of our fingers. Even then we already knew the potential dangers of long fingernails with our nursing and patient care activities. The use of artificial acrylic fingernails has become more fashionable and so more nurses have begun wearing them even…
In my early years as a nurse on the IV team, one of our responsibilities was to start all the pre-op IV’s using 18g catheters. Because of the large gauge size catheters we were inserting, we would use buffered Lidocaine 1% to numb the site prior to IV insertion. If the patient is allergic to…
A day to recognize board certified nurses in many nursing specialties. Congratulations to all certified nurses! Certification is a profession’s official recognition of achievement, expertise, and clinical judgment. It is a mark of excellence that requires continued learning and skill development to maintain. I have been a “CRNI” – certified registered nurse in Infusion since…
..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…
In case you missed it, here’s a summary of IV tips posted on Twitter in February. Central Venous Catheters (CVC): All CVC should produce a free flowing brisk blood return upon aspiration without having the patient do shoulder/arm movements. o It is not acceptable if patients have to do shoulder and/or arm movements in order…
At some point within the last 5 years, I am certain that all of us received some sort of training on how to prevent or reduce the incidence of catheter related blood stream infections (CR-BSI) associated with CVC. One of the things we’ve learned is in addition to the catheter hub, components of the IV…
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