I am a new nurse working in a CCU/CVICU area and was wondering if some of you seasoned nurses can give me some input about how long certain IV's should go in such as calcium, potassium, mag, etc. I know a lot of this comes along with experience but these are the types of things i sit around and think about Thanks, any input is appreciated! 0 Likes
CNL2B Specializes in multispecialty ICU, SICU including CV. Has 10 years experience. 516 Posts Aug 6, 2010 I can't tell you about meds you didn't ask about, but of the ones you did, this is how I do it (per facility guidelines):Mag - 1 gm over 15-20 minutes, 2 gm over 1/2 hourK - 20meq/hour MAX, must be on cardiac monitoring to run it that fast. The floors with no tele can run it at 10meq/hour only. Calcium gluconate/chloride - I dilute in 20-30cc and put it on a mini-infuser. Usually goes in over 20-30 minutes.I think this stuff is in most med books also (administration times.) That's where we get it from, mostly -- we've just memorized it over time. 0 Likes
Amy10BSN 19 Posts Aug 6, 2010 thanks! i was looking on our online drug guide at work (lexi-comp) and it gives parameters. i know that i will learn it all eventually with time and experience, thanks for your help. 0 Likes
lkwashington Specializes in Tele, ICU, ED, Nurse Instructor,. Has 4 years experience. 557 Posts Aug 7, 2010 Dont forget your pharmacy also set times how long it should run but you can base it on the patient needs. You can by an infusing book it helps a whole lot, 0 Likes
TangoLima 225 Posts Aug 7, 2010 I have never seen Mag infused in less than 4 hours. Im not saying it cant be done, I'm just staying I've never seen it. Maybe that is our hospital pharmacy's policy. IDK.We run K+ at 10 mEq per hour unless we have an order to run faster. That includes being in the ICU. I just had a patient last night with a critical K of 2.6. The MD ordered 80 mEq over 8 hours. So, even with the critical K, the MD still ordered 10 mEq per hour. Don't have a lot of experience with the other ones, so I can't tell you for sure. 0 Likes
meandragonbrett 2,438 Posts Aug 9, 2010 Mag Sulfate= 1gram/hrCalcium 1gram/hrPotassium 10 or 20 mEq/hr Kphos/NaPhos- 10mmol/hr 0 Likes
Maevish, ASN, RN Specializes in ICU, Postpartum, Onc, PACU. Has 9 years experience. 396 Posts Oct 19, 2010 Where I work we have to run 10mEq K over an hour, Mg 2g over 2 hours, and Calcium over 15 min. I wonder why our times are so different from other facilities?Hmmmmm 0 Likes
MoLee228 Specializes in CVICU, anesthesia. Has 1 years experience. 118 Posts Dec 13, 2010 At my hospital:Mag is always 1g/hourCalcium is 1-2g/hourThis is different from what others have said: we run K (10-20meq) over 30 mins-1 hour (central line). 1 hour if no ectopy, no rush. But if they are having any ectopy or it was below 3.5 we always run over 30 mins. 0 Likes
8jimi8ICURN Specializes in Flight RN, Trauma1 CVICU STICU MICU CCU. 231 Posts Dec 13, 2010 A preceptor once told me that he had run K+ @60/ hour before. Anyone else heard of this? 0 Likes
stram87 Has 4 years experience. 60 Posts Dec 14, 2010 Our policy is K 10meq/hr in peripherial IV w/o cardiac monitoring. 20meq/hr in central line with caridac monitoring. I can't imagine running 60meq/hr. Never done it or heard of anyone doing that. 0 Likes
TangoLima 225 Posts Dec 17, 2010 At our hospital:K+ infused at 10 mEq/hr even in the ICU. Mg++ infused at 2 gm over 4 hrs. This is per the pharmacy's recommendations. Maybe it COULD be infused faster, but I have never done it.The others I don't end up doing very often, so I don't know off the top of my head. 0 Likes