There is no doubt that several chemotherapeutic agents have vesicant properties, and when inadvertently infused into the surrounding tissue from an infiltrated IV, these agents may have the potential to cause blisters, severe tissue injury or necrosis, known as extravasation. The damage to the tissue can occur from direct contact with the vesicant medication, from…
I know the obvious answer is of course not. Nursing and medicine are two distinct professions. Even though nurses and physicians closely interact with each other, and have a few areas of overlapping responsibilities, they function in two distinct specialties, with their own evidence based practice guidelines. Ok, but what if in an area of…
Universal precautions has been around since 1983 (then called “Blood and Body Fluid Precautions”) and as defined by CDC, are a set of precautions designed to prevent transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and other bloodborne pathogens when providing first aid or health care. Under universal precautions, blood and certain body…
In my early years as a nurse on the IV team, one of our responsibilities was to start all the pre-op IV’s using 18g catheters. Because of the large gauge size catheters we were inserting, we would use buffered Lidocaine 1% to numb the site prior to IV insertion. If the patient is allergic to…
In case you missed it, here’s a summary of IV tips posted on Twitter in February. Central Venous Catheters (CVC): All CVC should produce a free flowing brisk blood return upon aspiration without having the patient do shoulder/arm movements. o It is not acceptable if patients have to do shoulder and/or arm movements in order…
The FDA has issued a Class 1 recall of 2 million huber needles because of a coring problem resulting from defect in the manufacturing and design process. The huber needles are manufactured by Nipro Medical Corporation and distributed by Exelint International Corporation. The FDA advises healthcare professionals to take the following precautions when using any…
A nurse colleague on twitter asked me for tips on starting IV’s in pudgy toddlers. This tweet was followed by another, stating “I have trouble with pudgy at any age”. Yes, I agree. Even to the most experience infusion nurse, pudgy is always a challenge and usually means no chance of finding veins or easy…
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