First timer

hi, pcns!

there is no calculation. in some hospitals where i worked we had the option of taking an iv push medication and giving it piggyback. we had policies that explained how we were to do this. mostly it involved knowing which solution you could put the medication into: normal saline (0.9% nacl or 5% dextrose and water). some liquid medications (such as dilantin) cannot be mixed in 5% dextrose and water because they precipitate out. what we did was take a 50cc or 100cc bag of one of these fluids and inject the medication into one of these small bags. we properly labeled the bag with the additive, date and time and our initials and then hung it as a piggyback on the patient's main iv line. as i recall we let them run in over 30 to 60 minutes. this technique to give an iv medication can also be a time-saver if you don't want to take the time to stand at the patient's bedside to push the medication in over a 10 or 20-minute period. an alternative method is to use a buretrol set. with a buretrol you allow 50 to 150ccs of an iv fluid to fill the buretrol chamber, clamp off the iv fluid, add the iv medication and then infuse the contents of the buretrol like you would any piggyback.

next time you are in a clinical area, check the nursing policy manual for policies and procedures involving iv medications. or, call and ask someone in the pharmacy. there are usually one or two people in the pharmacy who do nothing but the iv admixtures.

welcome to allnurses! :welcome: