No More Glass in Your Fingers: Filter Needle Trick of the Trade

[EMdruggist]

This article has been circulating in the emergency medicine world today and wanted to let the people that would use this trick the most know about it (if not known already).

Emergency Medicine PharmD: Trick of the Trade: Quick & Painless Ampule and Filter Needle Technique

A quick video of the action is available below.

VID_2

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

I haven't broke when in a few years. I probably now jinxed myself.

The easiest way I was shown is to hold vial at arms length and then break the top by pulling you opposite hand towards you. It keeps you from accidentally jerking your fingers back over the top and cutting your finger(s).

When I was in school I had one of classmates get so nervous during a medication check off she crushed the entire ampule in her hand. That is first and only time I have ever seen that.

[CraigB-RN, MSN, RN]

Nope. Doesn't work with our stock. Our filters come in blister pack with no cover and I've tried all our syringe caps and they don't fit over most of our vials. I tried the epi and the caps don't go down far enough to work. Slides of the ampule.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

You know what works for every size of ampoule? A preemie nipple. Yep, the kind you put on a bottle of formula. Take the plastic ring off and slide the business end of the nipple over the top of the ampoule, then crack away. When I'm drawing up IV salbutamol, which we run as pure drug, I'm cracking 12 x 5 mL amps per infusion and this works beautifully every time. (I wish I would have known about this when my son was on treatment for his blood disorder back in the mid 80s before there was an oral formulation and I was popping a 20 mL amp of etoposide every day. It would have saved me a nasty cut on my thumb!) You can reuse the nipple indefinitely, just wiping the thing off with an alcohol swab before using. Eventually the rubber will break down, but that takes a long time. Try it!

[vampiregirl, BSN, RN]

Neat trick:)

[kataraang, BSN]

Carefully open an alcohol pad. Put the top of the ampule into the wrapper (with the pad still in it) and break it off that way. That seems like it would work as well if the needle cap doesn't fit.

[AJJKRN]

Carefully open an alcohol pad. Put the top of the ampule into the wrapper (with the pad still in it) and break it off that way. That seems like it would work as well if the needle cap doesn't fit.

This is how my ASN school taught us!

[EMdruggist]

This would be the most standard process; doing it thousands of times, you'll find some times in which one can easily break inappropriately and glass cuts through the thin alcohol wipes. If your institution has these filter needles, you can cut your risk of cutting yourself significantly compared to wipes. Our nurses have been pretty thrilled with it since we have these filter needles.

[EMdruggist]

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