IVPB Question

[hollzdancer08]

Hello, I am a student nurse and will be graduating in December! Today in clinical, my instructor and team leader were disagreeing on what to do for a IVPB. It was Flagyl and we did not have an order for a primary fluid to run it through. The team leader said to hang it as a primary and my instructor said to hang a small bag of NS to run with it. If we hung it as a primary, then we are not giving it as a IVPB which is how it is ordered, and alot of the medication would be left in the tubing at the end of infusion. If we hang NS as a primary, we are administering a drug that was not ordered by the doctor.....what do you nurses think???

[starmickey03, MSN, RN]

Im a student as well and my CI informs me to run NS as the primary line when running IVPB. This actually just happened last week. There was no order for the primary line, just the order for the piggy back. So I was told to run some NS with it (by my clinical instructor).

[Hay Nars, RN]

If I have an order for IVPB and no order for fluids I run the IVPB via main line and when the bag is empty I usually just take the casette off the pump and let it run all the way through so the patient gets all of the medication and nothing that isn't ordered. (:

[hollzdancer08]

Thank you all so much. This has been very very helpful!

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

If I have an order for IVPB and no order for fluids I run the IVPB via main line and when the bag is empty I usually just take the casette off the pump and let it run all the way through so the patient gets all of the medication and nothing that isn't ordered. (:

Same here.

Plus, we can always check with the pharmacy to see if the small residual in the tubing is even significant

[MunoRN, RN]

Out of curiosity, if you feel you need an order for a primary/secondary set-up, do you also call for an order to flush an IV following an IV push dose?