FDA Requires Baxter to recall Colleague Infusion Pump

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…

Feeling lucky and privileged…

…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…

Need 411 on IO?

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…

Is it unfair or unethical?

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…

FDA Alert on certain IV medications

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…