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…
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…
…as in “Resources and References” in infusion therapy? Ok, I know what you’re thinking… with the internet, who needs to have a home library of references and resources? One would just “google” any and all questions/references/resources. Well, I may be one of the few left who still have reference books and resources in my office…
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…
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…
…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…
Please note this urgent message from the National Alert Network (NAN) for Serious Medication Errors. The National Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP) is distributing a NAN alert to warn practitioners about the potential for serious or fatal errors with epinephrine, caused by the current shortage of epinephrine emergency syringes. EPINEPHrine emergency syringes…
A few months ago, I blogged about intraosseous (IO) access – see IO made easy. This type of vascular access is experiencing tremendous growth and is beginning to gain acceptance as a true alternative access for infusion therapy. However, I think many nurses are still hesitant to consider IO access as a viable option for…
I have numerous nursing colleagues with extensive background and years of experience in infusion nursing, infusion therapy, and vascular access who are now directly employed by entities defined by the American Nursing Credentialing Center (ANCC) as “commercial interest”. ANCC defines an entity that has a “commercial interest” as any proprietary entity producing health care goods…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting healthcare professionals not to use certain intravenous (IV) bags of metronidazole, ondansetron, and ciprofloxacin because of potential contamination. FDA has received reports of floating matter in IV bags manufactured by Claris Lifesciences Limited, in Ahmedabad, India. Microbiological analysis identified the matter in one of the bags…
Infusion Nurse Blog 