IM injections

[ragingmomster]

Okay, I feel really old right now. I am an LPN working on my BSN and just finished working a free flu clinic in Boston with some of my fellow students. When I went to school the first time around we were taught to draw up the medication to be injected, tap out the bubbles get the correct dose and then add up a 0.1 ml air bubble. The theory was that when the syringe was inverted and the medication was injected, the bubble would float to the top, and would be injected last. This worked as a stopper to keep any of the injected fluid from leaking back out. Apparently this is not done anymore, and when I googled "method intramuscular injection" one of the sites popped up and said that leaving an air bubble was an old method that was used during the time of re-usable syringes and should be discontinued because it would alter the amount of medication administered. Anyone as "old" as me?

[kids]

I graduated from an ADN program in 1990.

We were taught to use ventrogluteal and were not even shown the dorsogluteal site.

[JenMarie]

I note that it is interesting that nurses I work with imply that the VG site is a new site. They are always surprized when I tell them the site has been around since 1954 when it was introduced by Hochstetter.

Thanks for the feedback so far.