Nurses know that phlebitis is the inflammation of the vein and is considered an adverse patient outcome. Vascular access sites should be routinely assessed for signs and symptoms of phlebitis , as well as the severity of phlebitis. According to the Infusion Nurses Society(INS) Standards of Practice, a standardized scale that is valid, reliable, and…
Here are the results of the survey from a previous post “Take our survey: Standards of Practice”. Q1 Are you aware that there is a Standard of Practice for Infusion Nursing? n=75 Yes: 82.5% No: 17.65% Q2 If you are an RN, LPN or APN performing, administering, delivering IV/infusion therapy, do you think the…
It’s an interesting question and more interesting is how different nurses describe their documentation of an IV start. A few nursing colleagues on IVchat said: (thanks, twitter buddies) “created stamp for chart that identifies size, site, no. of attempts, time date and operator” (site meant 2 refer 2 the actual vein & location, if u…
On January 25, national IV nurse day, the Infusion Nurses Society (INS) announced the release of the revised 2011 Infusion Nursing Standards of Practice. This has been a long awaited document for infusion nurses and I am so happy to hear this news. So like a child on Christmas morning, I wait in great anticipation…
Here are replies to questions I received either on twitter or FB. I thought I’d blog about it in the spirit of sharing and learning. “What do you think about using “nitroglycerin” ointment to help find veins for IV starts?” There are literature supporting the use of nitroglycerin ointment for dilating veins prior to venipuncture…
The FDA released this alert a few days ago: Triad Group Issues a Voluntary Nationwide Recall of All Lots of Alcohol Prep Pads, Alcohol Swabs, and Alcohol Swabsticks Due to Potential Microbial Contamination What??? Are you serious? We use these products to disinfect areas such as skin, injection ports, connectors, etc… prior to injection or…
Over the years, I’ve noticed certain terms often misused and misunderstood by nurses which can lead to false assumptions, misinterpretations and yes, confusion. Here’s some of those terms: Standards of Care Standards of Practice Policies and Procedures Practice Guidelines Protocols Often I hear these terms used interchangeably. To help clear up the confusion, let’s define…
…is a frequently asked question I get from patients who come for infusions on a regular basis and haven’t seen me before. I don’t blame the patients, to them I am not a familiar face since I was not there during their last treatment or previous times they have come for their infusions. So they…
Are you a new grad, a seasoned nurse or a new nurse in infusion nursing? Test your knowledge by taking the Infusion 101 quiz!! Have fun! Thank you!
A week ago, I posted a poll on my blog about inserting a peripheral IV catheter, bevel up or bevel down. Here’s the result as of 11.23.2010. The poll showed, inserting bevel up is the technique used by 92.11% of the blog readers who took the poll. It is also the common practice and the…
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