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Discussion

IV meds?

I am currently in my last semester of the RN program. I have been an LVN for over 6 years, working in acute care. Now as an LVN in CA we are not allowed to give ANY IV meds. We can start IV's, hang blood, TPN (as long as no meds are mixed in), fluids, but NO MEDS IV. So I guess this has made me feel like giving IV meds is a big deal & I honestly think it is because it enters the blood stream & takes effect immediately. Last semester in my RN program we were able to hang IVPB & the instructors are so casual about it. Now this semester we are able to give 5 drugs IV push & again I feel like they're pretty casual about it. It makes me nervous that they are being so casual. And I worry about compatibility, but most hospitals don't even have compatibility charts & the one in my drug book is pretty limited. Should I get an IV drug book or what? Has anyone else experienced this?

Featured Replies

Check to see if your company has micromedex which is a computer program that is free to use at your facility. Otherwise if they don't, you might want to consider getting a IV handbook or a program if you own a PDA. IVP meds ARE a big deal and should not be taken lightly. Glad that you have more sense then some people :)

  • Author

Thanks, good to know that I'm not over-reacting, which is how they make me feel.

Let us know what chart you decide to use. I am curoius because I think I will get one too!

Thanks.

  • Experts

i can't explain your feeling that rns have a casualness about giving iv meds except to suggest to you that when you have done a procedure so many, many times, you do become very confident in what you are doing. i've been an iv therapist and given thousands of iv push meds. i'm sure that i must look pretty casual as i am doing all that. i applaud your attention to the serious nature of what is going on with iv administration. i would ask you to keep in mind that you can only be responsible for your own behavior and not anyone else's (unless, of course, you are in a position of some influence and power!) so, if you want to take every iv push medication seriously, do so. i wouldn't worry about others unless you see them making an error that is going to hurt a patient. you are not the iv push policeman.

there was a drug company that used to put out a wonderful drug compatibility chart. can't remember the name of it. some of the nursing drug books have compatibility charts on the inside covers. you might try asking different pharmacists at the facilities where you do your clinicals if they know which drug companies put out these compatibility charts. most hospital pharmacies have one or two pharmacists or pharmacy techs who do nothing but the iv admixtures, so they might know who these drug companies are. i might be wrong, but i think that facts and comparisons had drug incompatibilities in it, but they are listed by the individual drugs. most hospitals have updated copies of facts and comparisons somewhere around the joint. it's online resource is called efacts, i believe.

i have a link to a chart on iv push medications from a hospital pharmacy service that you might find helpful. print it out. you never know when these organizations are going to decide to take these wonderful tools off the internet.

http://www.musc.edu/pharmacyservices/ - to access the pharmacy policy manual click on "pnp alpha index" on the left side of this web page. you will get the index listing of the pharmacy services of the medical university of south carolina. you can find two different iv push medication charts (adult and pediatric) here by clicking on the following links: iv push chart - adults and iv push chart - pediatric

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