… bloody, as in blood return… which, to an infusion nurse is truly exhilarating! When I am challenged to insert a 24g peripheral IV catheter in a tiny, invisible vein of a dehydrated infant, I jump for joy as I watch anxiously for the blood return and pray that blood continues to backflow as I…
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…
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…
Last Friday, a patient scheduled to receive his chemotherapy walked into our infusion center with his wife, both wearing t-shirts with this printed on the front. I noticed but didn’t pay much attention until his treatment started. I was a bit slow on the uptake that morning and the patient was kind enough to explain…
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…
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…
In case you missed it, here’s a summary of the IV tips I posted on Twitter in January. Lucky Tourniquet: Do you know some nurses won’t get rid of their “lucky tourniquet” for fear they can’t start an IV without it? Single use only please.. • Unless cleaned in between patient use, IV tourniquet should…
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