Administering IV antibiotic bolus with concurrent IVT

[wils0389]

Just wondering if anyone can tell me what the latest practice is for administering a bolus push of IV antibiotics where an infusion of normal saline is running concurrently at 125mL/hr? Would you stop the infusion or pinch the line to prevent the medication running back up the line, or would the infusion rate be fast enough to prevent this from happening? Help needed as I am trying to write an assignment due in one week and can't find any information to support current practice of IV therapy :uhoh21:. My lecturer believes that the therapy does not need to be stopped however, everywhere I look, it says to stop infusion, administer antibiotic, and recommence therapy. Any help will be appreciated thanks.

[amy]

I would not stop the infusion of NS. If you flush the line after antibiotic administration you should be fine. Most all current IV drip sets now are produced with an anti-reflux filter or valve which prevents backup of medication up the line. This looks like a small disc surrounding the line between the spike and the highest administration port. Be aware, however, that many long practicing nurses may give iv pushes thru a running line and not fllush after if the rate is running at a decent clip...

[zambezi, BSN, RN]

I typically run everything on a pump. If I have my NS at 125 cc/hr, I just use the secondary port, program in how fast I want the abx to run...it runs in my abx at the specified rate and then switches back to my NS rate when it is complete. It is very handy.