How do you dilute your meds for IV pushes?

[PickMePlze]

Do you have a certain method for diluting your meds? Do you add the medicaton to a saline syringe or draw up the saline with the medication? Please post your method. If you don't mind share step by step what you do.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

I draw the medication up into a 5cc or 10cc syringe first to make sure I have the correct dosage, then draw the saline up into the syringe. I'll draw up some air, give the syringe a couple of back and forth gentle shakes to mix it, push the air out and do the IV push. The irritation of the medication depends on the amount of saline I use. Also, I tend to use a 10cc syringe if I have one available as it exerts less pressure on the vein when pushing than syringes that are smaller.

[lucky4timesover]

I inject air into my dilutent first, draw up my medication, then the dilutent. Always check you med book for the acceptable sokution to use as a dilutent and the proper amount to use. Good luck!

Sunny

[danigirl58]

for me i use a 10cc syringe and say if i had a 10mg ampule of morphine i would draw up 9 cc ns then draw up the 1cc of morphine. i never draw up the med first then draw up ns because then if you take in to much saline your end dosage could be way off.

i've also seen nurses draw it up in 2 different syringes. one syringe with the ns (or diluent) and the other of the med ... then they inject the med one into the ns syringe. to me this is way to much and would waste a lot of time.

[onarie]

I draw my medication up into one syringe and make sure I have the correct dosage. I draw my dilutant up into a different syringe making sure there is enough space to add my medication. I then squirt the medication into the dilutent syringe. This really doesn't take more time. I believe that with medications that need to be strongly diluted - this helps to ensure correct dilution. You may need to try a couple of different methods to see what works for you. Good luck!

[Kinky Slinky RN]

I was taught by one nurse to dilute it a different way, especially if its caustic like phenergan or something. Assuming the patient has a bag of something like NS, draw up the med into the syringe, and stick the syringe in a port and draw up some of the NS and push just a little, then draw up some more NS, and push just a little, and keep repeating until your done that way it reduces the burning by diluting it even more. I'm not really sure how kosher that is but that's another way I was taught OUTSIDE of school =)

[mandrews]

I draw up my saline first since i don't want to waste a 30ml vial of 0.9%. then I draw up my medication in the same syringe. If i am pushing an unfamiliar med I always look it up in the med book before pushing so I know I am giving my meds safely.

melissa

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

i never draw up the med first then draw up ns because then if you take in to much saline your end dosage could be way off.

i never worry about the amount of ns if i am using it to dilute a caustic med. if it's + or - what i intended is not going to make a difference. the important thing is that the medication dosage was drawn up correctly. i would never attempt to put back any saline into a multidose vial that i had already drawn into a syringe containing a drug i was mixing it with. if the amount of saline has to be exactly perfect then i would use the two syringe method described by onarie. it's very easy to take the needle off one syringe and shoot the contents of another syringe into the barrel through the now needleless hub and then replace the needle. in fact, this is how we often mixed our pre-op demerol and phenergan to make sure we had the correct dosages.