IV piggyback question

[Hockeynursing]

Quick question! I made a silly mistake. I hung a piggy back on the same level as a primary bag on the pump. I went back a few hours later and realized this but the bag was empty (the piggyback). Now I'm assuming it's okay because the bag was empty, but wanted to confirm that it somehow didn't go into the primary bag. Hoping you can ease some anxiety!

[klone, MSN, RN]

If it's on the pump, it won't back up into the primary.

[Hockeynursing]

Yes it was on pump, thanks!

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

The hospital I'm at uses a one-way valve setup for our primary lines. Pump or no pump, as long as you connect the secondary tubing below that valve, the piggyback won't go into the primary bag. Just don't get complacent because at some point, you may get a patient that has IV tubing that doesn't have said one-way valve and then it's very possible to have fluids/meds flow into the primary bag. That being said, if the primary drip chamber isn't completely full and you're sure that nobody has "fixed it" then there's no way the piggyback med could have flowed into and mixed with the primary bag fluid.

Now if only our blood tubing had those one-way valves...