Survey Results: Standards of Practice

Here are the results of the survey from a  previous post “Take our survey: Standards of Practice”. Q1  Are you aware that there is a Standard of Practice for Infusion Nursing?   n=75 Yes:  82.5%                      No:  17.65% Q2  If you are an RN, LPN or APN performing, administering, delivering IV/infusion therapy, do you think the…

Got IV Questions? Get Answers!

Here are replies to questions I received either on twitter or FB. I thought I’d blog about it in the spirit of sharing and learning. “What do you think about using “nitroglycerin” ointment to help find veins for IV starts?” There are literature supporting the use of nitroglycerin ointment for dilating veins prior to venipuncture…

Closing out 2010..

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…

Bevel up or Bevel down?

A week ago, a colleague @nerdymedic posted this question posted this on Twitter. “Can you shed some light on the “bevel down” technique that some profess for peds?” It was an interesting question, to which I replied: Bevel down vs. bevel up when inserting IV catheters. I have always inserted peripheral IV catheters bevel up…

10 Tips for patients on infusion therapy

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!!  😦…

Vesicants: not just chemo agents!

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…

Overheard in an Infusion Center….

“ we’re just like a filling station, they (patients) come here, we fill them up and let them go”!! This was the response from several RN’s working in a hospital based outpatient infusion center I recently visited where chemotherapy and biologic agents are administered to patients with oncologic and non-oncologic disorders, including patient’s with immune…

PUDGY with no chance of veins!!!

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…