Q: I am a staff nurse doing home infusion. I’ve seen an increase in new home patients requiring infusions of Remicade and Entyvio this year.I have a patient to start soon and I have found no evidence on how safe these drugs are if administered at home. They are given in a doctor’s office where…
I paused from the other side of the infusion center when I overheard a patient ask my colleague this question. After a very long pause, I heard her response. Nurse: Where did you hear that? Patient: Dr. XXX said I might get the biosimilar drug when it comes out. <long pause again> Nurse: Oh really? Ok,…
Here’s a conversation I’ve had with an RN preparing to give a weight based medication via a peripheral IV: I don’t weigh the patient each time they come in for an infusion. I only weigh them at the beginning of their treatment to get a baseline weight. Why should I weigh them again, they can…
Q: I am a registered nurse working in a physician owned infusion center. We work very closely with the physician and if the patient needs IV therapy, the doctor tells me what IV and meds to give, then I start the infusion, He writes what he wants given in his progress notes. Is there a…
Originally posted on Infusion Nurse Blog:
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…
Nearly 53 million outpatient procedures are performed annually in the United States. While most of these procedures occur in hospital outpatient departments, a growing number are being done in nonhospital-based facilities such as ambulatory surgery centers and physician offices. One of these procedures include infusion therapy, the administration of fluids and medications via the venous…
A year ago, there was a shortage of large volume (1000mL) IV solutions that included 0.9% NaCL and other IV fluids. Read my blog post here. This year isn’t any better. A new set of issues related to IV saline solution and other IV fluids have surfaced. 1. Simulated Saline IV fluids were mistakenly given…
Q: I read your post about priming volume vs. residual volume and I have a question. We give infusions of IV meds in a physician’s office. Is it better to prime the tubing with saline or prime the tubing with drug after it is added to the IV bag? A: First of all, thank you…
Greetings my dear colleagues!! I recently recorded a short podcast with the Infusion Nurses Society and is now available on line. Hope you’ll find a few minutes to listen in. Thanks! Recommendations for Improving Safety Practices with Short Peripheral Catheters Despite the frequent use of short peripheral catheters (SPCs) in all health care settings, education…
Q: A patient gets daily IV antibiotic infusion at home. The antibiotic is mixed in a 50mL 0.9% Sodium Chloride minibag by pharmacy. The home care nurse administers the infusion via gravity drip using a macrodrip primary tubing via the patient’s PIV lock. When the IVPB bag is completely empty, the nurse stops the infusion, disconnects…
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