The long awaited update to the 2002 CDC Guidelines for the Prevention of Intravascular Catheter -Related Infections was released today April 1 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC). The 2011 guidelines outline steps to eliminate bloodstream infections in patients with intravenous catheters, which…
Anything with the letters…”IV” catches my attention immediately then I’m all over the article/topic or whatever the letters are attached to. More so when the word…”CONTAMINATED” appears before it. CONTAMINATED IVs…ugh, not something an infusion nurse want to see or hear at anytime. My heart broke when I saw the news about the 9 patient…
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…
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 last day of the year and yes, 2010 went by so fast. I consider myself lucky for it was a good year f0r me professionally and an equally good year for this blog as well. Through this blog, I have met so many wonderful individuals, learned so much from them, and very grateful for…
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.…
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, a colleague @nerdymedic posted this question posted this on Twitter. “Can you shed some light on the “bevel down” technique that some profess for peds?” It was an interesting question, to which I replied: Bevel down vs. bevel up when inserting IV catheters. I have always inserted peripheral IV catheters bevel up…
As a little girl, I often heard my mother say … “You’ll be wiser when you’re older”. At that time, I thought older adults were totally cool folks. They were wise, acted, talked and behaved like they knew it all!! I couldn’t wait to become like them. As an RN, I had the same thoughts…
In the past weeks, there have several FDA alerts and recall notices related to products used in infusion therapy. Here are some of the products. Class I Recall: CareFusion Corporation, Alaris PC Units (Model 8015) Reason for Recall: Under certain wireless network conditions, a communication error can occur, which freezes the PC Unit screen. This…
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