IV Push...please help!

Does your hospital where you do clinicals have a drug manual? They should give you the rate which you push certain drugs. That's the resource I use at work

We haven't started this semester's clinicals yet. We're supposed to look these up in our drug books to use for a check-off before clinicals even start. I can't get a straight answer on exactly where to find them other than the drug book on the syllabus.

Yes, follow your drug book. If it says 4mg of zofran over 2-5 minutes, then push 4mg over 2-5 minutes (I push it over 2 minutes all the time, by the way). What about if the doctor orders 8mg zofran IV? Well, give it over 4 minutes.

You say..."Benadryl: book says do not exceed 25 mg/min but offers no other guidelines; it's only available in 50mg/mL, so you would just push that mL over 2 minutes right?" Yes, you are correct 50mg/ml would be given over 2 minutes. However, the doctor orders 25mg. So, give 25mg, which would be 0.5 of the 50mg/ml vial. Right? So, give that 25mg/0.5ml over one minutes. I personally would give it over 2 minutes. If given too fast it can shoot your patients heart rate up!!

I use medscape on my phone and lexicomp on my hospital computer all the time. I also use it for compatibility with other meds, precautions, and what to dilute meds with when needed.

Thank you!

Yes, follow your drug book. If it says 4mg of zofran over 2-5 minutes, then push 4mg over 2-5 minutes (I push it over 2 minutes all the time, by the way). What about if the doctor orders 8mg zofran IV? Well, give it over 4 minutes.

You say..."Benadryl: book says do not exceed 25 mg/min but offers no other guidelines; it's only available in 50mg/mL, so you would just push that mL over 2 minutes right?" Yes, you are correct 50mg/ml would be given over 2 minutes. However, the doctor orders 25mg. So, give 25mg, which would be 0.5 of the 50mg/ml vial. Right? So, give that 25mg/0.5ml over one minutes. I personally would give it over 2 minutes. If given too fast it can shoot your patients heart rate up!!

I use medscape on my phone and lexicomp on my hospital computer all the time. I also use it for compatibility with other meds, precautions, and what to dilute meds with when needed.

I get this information from the Pharmacy. When I worked in the hospital, Pharmacy would edit the orders on our eMAR to indicate how long a medication should be infused over. This was pediatrics so we ran almost everything on a pump, including something like cefazolin that was to be infused over 3 minutes. The reason for giving toradol over 1 minute instead of rapidly pushing it is that it burns with rapid administration. At least that's what I've always been told, I've never had it myself. I can't imagine a situation where someone would need toradol emergently.

Nowadays, if I have to teach one of my young adult patients IVP administration for home IV antibiotics, my Pharmacist tells me how fast they should push it. Usually it's 5 minutes.

If you're working at a hospital, they should have a formulary that contains this information. Sometimes they make up their own guidelines. For example, standard infusion time for vanco is 1 hr, 2 hrs if the patient has a Redman's reaction. The hospital I liaise at came up with something new a few months ago where, for patients weighing