I’m a year old….

I mean, my infusion nurse blog is a year old this month!!! Gosh, it’s hard to believe a year has gone by…it’s my first blog-o-versary!! My first blog was posted on August 18, a week after my blog site, infusion nurse blog was created. My goal was to share information about infusion therapy, vascular access,…

“Kemopalooza”…ya dig?

Last Friday, a patient scheduled to receive his chemotherapy walked into our infusion center with his wife, both wearing t-shirts with this printed on the front. I noticed but didn’t pay much attention until his treatment started. I was a bit slow on the uptake that morning and the patient was kind enough to explain…

Know your connectors….

…the devices that allow connections of infusion sets and catheter hubs. Unless you have been living under a rock, no one should be using needles to make that connection, thus the term…needleless connectors. In a previous blog, I posted about an FDA Alert on Positive Displacement Needleless Connectors . After I did, I realized that…

FDA Safety Alert on Nimodipine: Not for IV use

Nimodipine is a medication intended to be given in a critical care setting to treat neurologic complications from subarachnoid hemorrhage and is only available as a capsule. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting healthcare professionals that nimodipine capsules should be given ONLY by mouth or through a feeding tube (nasogastric tube). This…

AH…musing!!

What people (colleagues or patients) say to an infusion nurse…. The classic……“Will I be IV certified after I take an on-line IV course”? The confused….In a doctor’s office, a medical assistant greets me…“Hi, I’m Dr. So and So’s nurse…” The proud but mis-informed…A nurse after starting a peripheral IV – “I finally got the vein…

FDA Requires Baxter to recall Colleague Infusion Pump

On July 13, 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration required Baxter Healthcare Corp. to take specific steps to carry out the April 2010 recall of all Colleague Volumetric Infusion Pumps (CVIP) and to provide customers with a refund, a replacement pump, or lease termination. According to the FDA, it is requiring Baxter to provide…

To blog or not to blog…

Today was a great day, not only because its Friday but because I had the great opportunity to participate  in a discussion (podcast) on Insights in Nursing regarding the departure of a long time medical blogger from blogging. As a new blogger, I didn’t have much interaction with Mark Glencorse but I have read a…

Feeling lucky and privileged…

…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…