This is an updated version of the 2014 publication. The current update (2016) adds 34 drugs, five of which have safe-handling recommendations from the manufacturers. Hazardous drugs include those used for cancer chemotherapy, antiviral drugs, hormones, some bioengineered drugs, and other miscellaneous drugs. This document presents criteria and sources of information for determining whether a drug is…
In case you missed it, the Infusion Nurses Society (INS) has published an updated position paper on The Role of Unlicensed Assistive Personnel (UAP) in the Provision of Infusion Therapy. UAP is the common term used to describe the various assistive personnel to whom physicians, RNs, and other health care professionals may delegate patient care activities,…
Today our nation marks the 15th year anniversary of the attacks on 9/11 in NYC, DC and Pennsylvania. That was a day no one would ever forget. We will always be grateful to the courageous firefighters, rescuers and first responders who risked their lives to save those in the rumbles of this dreadful day. We…
It’s hard to believe this blog is now 7 years old!! I am grateful and humbled that you’ve continued to visit, read, post comments, and subscribe to my blog posts. Here’s are the top 7 most read posts this year: Click on the link for the post. 1. “Is there a difference? Osmolarity vs. Osmolality” 2.…
Q: I am a staff nurse doing home infusion. I’ve seen an increase in new home patients requiring infusions of Remicade and Entyvio this year.I have a patient to start soon and I have found no evidence on how safe these drugs are if administered at home. They are given in a doctor’s office where…
Another INS Annual Meeting done and dusted for 2016. Each year, I look forward to the exhibit hall hours and I consider it as one of the highlights of the Annual meeting. I am very grateful to all the vendors who were there and were always willing to educate us on their products. This helps us…
Q: I was getting Solumedrol drip and got a big goose egg where my IV needle was inserted. Will I get benefit from the drug that went into my skin? A: Thank you for your question. There are several articles on the topic of IV infiltration, however, I didn’t find anything specific on this. So here…
Q: I am a registered nurse working in a physician owned infusion center. We work very closely with the physician and if the patient needs IV therapy, the doctor tells me what IV and meds to give, then I start the infusion, He writes what he wants given in his progress notes. Is there a…
Originally posted on Infusion Nurse Blog:
This week, I posted on Twitter an article I saw in the American Nurse Today about “Calculating IV drip rates with confidence”. For an infusion nurse, calculations of drip rates and drug concentration is a given with the nature of my job. I didn’t realize that some nurses don’t…
Q: A patient gets daily IV antibiotic infusion at home. The antibiotic is mixed in a 50mL 0.9% Sodium Chloride minibag by pharmacy. The home care nurse administers the infusion via gravity drip using a macrodrip primary tubing via the patient’s PIV lock. When the IVPB bag is completely empty, the nurse stops the infusion, disconnects…
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