Nursing Students General Students
Published Apr 2, 2007
Kristy_joyz
83 Posts
How do you know when to use a pump when you hang IV fluids??? I know that when you hang an electrolyte eg potassium you have to use a pump.
heartrn4duke
16 Posts
Where I work unless a pt is currently coding we use an IV Pump for all IV fluids.. That way you can get an accurate and more precise I and O .
Someone told me if its below 100cc and runs under 1hr then piggyback it. if its over 100cc or runs over 1hr then put it in a pump. Its this correct?
neneRN, BSN, RN
642 Posts
This is probably going to vary from unit to unit....I'm in ER and we never have enough pumps, so anything that can go by gravity does; pretty much all of our IVF (except with K) and antibiotics (except Vanc) are by gravity. But as heartrn said, pumps are more precise..so if you're unsure, its never wrong to go ahead and put it on a pump.
Daytonite, BSN, RN
1 Article; 14,604 Posts
Hi, Kristy_joyz. . .most facilities have a nursing or pharmacy policy that stipulates what IV solutions absolutely need to be on IV pumps. In general, if the solution you are running has some sort of medication in it (heparin, dopamine, theophylline, insulin, etc.) or is something like TPN, lipids, chemotherapy or single electrolytes such as potassium or calcium then it needs to be delivered via pump. The reason the rate of administration of potassium needs to be controlled is because rapid infusion of IV potassium can cause the heart to go into heart block and stop beating resulting in sudden death. Too much heparin will result in hemorrhage. For these reasons you need to know what the normal doses of IV medications are and what too rapid infusion can cause. If you are ever in doubt, put the IV on a pump. Better to be foolish for using a pump than apologizing to a patient's family for accidentally injuring or killing their loved one.
http://www.musc.edu/pharmacyservices/PnP/f20_4.pdf - Here is an example of an infusion guidelines for adult IV medications in solutions. You might want to print this chart out for reference, but keep in mind that it is only one facility's policy. You may assume that all of these solutions would be delivered via pump.