IV push rates

meownsmile, BSN, RN · Mar 21, 2006

Utilize your IV medication book. I always tell my orientees and student nurses on the floor,, Do not ever take anyone's word for administration rate, LOOK IT UP YOURSELF.

I dont know of any laminated cards, but you can always make your own with a 4x6 card. More common meds you learn very quickly anyway so the need for the reference may be short lived.

scrmblr · Mar 21, 2006

pharmacy is a great resource too! I call them when I have any med questions...they are usually great about answering anything...(depending on the pharmacist of the day:)

rarjn5 · Mar 21, 2006

I don't know of a card system for IV push meds but I use 2006 Intravenous Medications. Authors: Betty L. Gahart and Adrienne Nazareno. Publisher: Elsevier Mosby. It is the size of a regular drug book but it is spiral bound and very informative. It is also easy for a quick glance and easy to follow. The Nursing Spectrum Drug Handbook does a good job of describing drugs for IV push, rate and dose.

MissJoRN, RN · Mar 21, 2006

We use that IV book, too. Even though ours was a "floor copy" I wasn't afraid to highlight some of the most important facts about meds- rate, fluid compat., tubing compat. No one else ever complained, not sure if it was because that was the info they wanted, too or if I was the only one to use the book, LOL. I also used mini post-its to flag pages of commonly looked up meds- not the ones I gave every shift or weekly that I knew very well, but the ones I could count on giving every few months. Ex- our unit used SoluMedrol all the time, but Decadron was given to about 10 kids a year so I always had to look it up.

ERNurse752, RN · Mar 21, 2006

I also use the Gahart book.

JaneyW · Mar 21, 2006

We use Micromedex on-line at my facility. Always look them up and use the reference used by your own facility or P&P from your facility. Make your own card--you will remember the info better if you do!

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 21, 2006

We have a bit of a problem with accessing information like this in our unit. We have MicroMedex on our intranet site, as are ALL of our P&P manuals and other resources. The employer is phasing out all paper copies as they become "extinct". But we don't have computer access in three of our seven isolation rooms, where patients must have a nurse in room at all times; the two computer terminals in the main unit are often locked because the last user forgot to log off and neither of them reboot with the reset button; we don't have any extra staff most shifts to do the looking AND it takes at least five minutes or more just to get to the search screen of any of our manuals. That's why I carry a library of resource books around with me... my back and shoulder are expendable.

veegeern, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2006

I don't know of a card system for IV push meds but I use 2006 Intravenous Medications. Authors: Betty L. Gahart and Adrienne Nazareno. Publisher: Elsevier Mosby. It is the size of a regular drug book but it is spiral bound and very informative. It is also easy for a quick glance and easy to follow.

We have this book on the floor for our use. Before I gave the meds often enough to remember the information, I made an index card and taped it to my clipboard. I included the dilution info for the med along with the rate of admin.

LilRedRN1973 · Mar 26, 2006

Our Med-Select instructs you on how to dilute the medication and how fast to push it (i.e. pepcid....it states to dilute in 5ml of saline and push over 2 minutes).

Melanie = )