Scrub….don’t wipe!!! According to the 2011 CDC guidelines section on “needleless intravascular catheter systems” statement #4 : “Minimize contamination risk by scrubbing the access port with an appropriate antiseptic (chlorhexidine, povidone iodine, an iodophor, or 70% alcohol) and accessing the port only with sterile devices. Category 1A” This is an update to their 2002 guidelines…
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…
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…
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 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…
It is amazing when you meet someone and they find out you are a nurse (infusion nurse), they start asking a lot of health related questions. Honestly, I don’t mind and I am grateful that most people I meet know what “infusion therapy” is, although a few are still confused that it means…blood draw!! 😦…
I am not sure why I am always surprised to see that the all time top read post here is the one about avoiding the antecubital fossa when starting a peripheral IV….“Just say No” Ok, so I am really grateful that many are reading my blog but I am also a bit concerned that perhaps…
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that when you don’t have enough of a good thing, bad things can happen. This is the case with the on-going drug shortages and the resulting potential issues that affect the care we provide and patient safety concerns. The ISMP (Institute for Safe Medication Practices) recently released…
Certain lots of Epogen and Procrit (Epoetin alfa) vials are being recalled as a precaution, because the vials may contain extremely thin glass flakes (lamellae) that are barely visible. The potential serious adverse events resulting from the use of a sterile injectable product with particulates by the intravenous route include embolic, thrombotic and other vascular…
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