In response to a question from a former ER nurse who now works for a physician office providing infusion services, I came upon this guide from the CDC. The question is why should infection control practices in a physician’s office differ from those in the hospital? In particular, this nurse was appalled that the physician…
You just started a PIV in the patient’s right arm and soon after, the patient complained of sharp pain and ask that the PIV be removed. What would you do? Leave PIV in and tell patient,of course it will hurt, I just stuck you with a needle Assess the IV site and if no redness…
Last February 2010, I wrote a blog when I observed some nurses re-using syringes. I couldn’t believe that a nurse would actually re-use a syringe but it happened and I was there to see it. Here’s my blog post in case you missed it…“Single Use Only” I wanted to believe that it was an isolated…
When was the last time you have counted the drops on your patient’s IV? Thanks to the marvels of infusion pump technology, for many of us, it may have been a while and to some of our new colleagues, perhaps none of them have actually counted drops. Why bother with such unimportant matter? Is it…
Several new treatment options for chronic illnesses have received FDA approval in the last few months. Among them are two biologic agents administered intravenously for chronic refractory gout in adults (September 2010) and the other is for Lupus, a serious autoimmune disorder (March 2011). Krystexxa (pegloticase) has been approved by the FDA for patients with…
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…
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…
In the years I have been an infusion nurse, none of my patients would volunteer to have an “IV access” started for any reason unless prescribed for the treatment their illness or to save their lives. It seems that a lot of consumers, not necessarily “patients” in the traditional definition, are seeking unconventional IV treatments.…
Infusion Nurse Blog 