IM injections

At our facility, the general tendency is for IMs to be given in the arm. Most of the nurses I've asked say it's fine to do it in the deltoid. I'm not exactly crazy about doing it this way, especially in the thinner/older patients who don't have a lot of deltoid to begin with. In these patients, I'd prefer the vastus lateralis or I'll even settle for a gluetus.

However, I can understand its convenience, especially when it comes to having to ask someone in a psych facility to drop trou: many don't want to (aggressive or court-ordered patients definitely won't), some can't d/t abuse history, I need to find that hard-to-find male staff if the patient is of the opposite sex, etc. Then the patients who willingly drop trou--and then some--are a little frightening in themselves.

I'm wondering how most of you do IMs at your facility, since we give so many of them compared to other specialties