Patient asked me what an IV med was for..i didnt know

Nurses LPN/LVN

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I am a new grad LVN and a IV med was scheduled for a patient. The patient asked me what is the IV med for and I did not know. She also asked why does she need to have this? and Do you know why she has it?

She kept bombarding me with questions I did not know because as an LVn I am not even allowed to give IV meds at my hospital.

She asked for my name so I am sure she will report me. After this I told her i would look up the med and I did. I read exactly what is was from my drug book.

Next time this happens I want to be better prepared with good answers. What is the most professional way to say I do not know.?

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
And, to read a patient a drug drescription from a... BOOK? OMG.

I don't really see why this is such a big deal. It would be wrong to administer a med when you don't know its purpose. While I might change the wording a bit to eliminate technical language, I don't find any issues with reading the pt the answer right from the book.

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
Another thought- who ordered the IV med, and who started the IV, and who started the IV med via the IV? Two, possibly 3 healthcare workers involved (aside from the LPN) were treating a patient with an IV, without possibly obtaining consent, but obviously without bothering to tell the patient what was going on, and why the IV was needed. And, also- why didn't the patient ASK the ordering provider, or the nurse while the IV was going in, or what the medication was when it was hanged, since she appears to be alert, etc., and taking notes? Lots of potential liability in this scenario- especially if the RN made a med error that wasn't caught by the LPN, eh? I've seen an awful lot of nonchalance, and lawsuits about IVs.

Rereading the OP, it seems the pt was asking the purpose for a particular IV med. The pt was not asking why she had an IV. I'm really not sure where this is all coming from...it is important to know if the pt consents to the IV before putting inserting it, but that it is a bit irrelevant to this specific situation. Plus, (at least where I work), the pt does not have to sign a special consent before an IV is placed.

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
True. But since OP was NOT giving it, I think he's covered on that front.

What on earth? You're now just looking for problems where likely there are none. And have nothing to do with OP's question.

Double like for these parts :yeah:

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IV meds are covered under the basic education here. Oral antibiotics and IV usually have the same names.

What's wrong with asking why this basic skill isn't is an nurse's eduction?

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I just wanna ask who did u get your certification for IV? I just passed my pn exam and j wanted to inquire about certification. Thank you in advance.

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My job allowed me to get Iv certified. I've been at my current employer for 15 years. But the pharmacy your facility is with may do Iv certification classes as well. Good luck.

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IV meds are covered under the basic education here. Oral antibiotics and IV usually have the same names.

What's wrong with asking why this basic skill isn't is an nurse's eduction?

abatacept was the IV med and I did not know what it was for but its nice to know there are nurses like yourself that know every single med that will ever be given to any patient. :up:

I am sure when I am 50+ years old I will know many medications. :) I am just starting my career and I am learning so much.

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Thanks for the tips!

Today I looked up the meds I didn't know in the mars and wrote them down on a brain sheet i have for each patient. There was 3 meds I did not know out of all of them. I just read everything about them before administering.

Just remember-all the nurses here that are reading you the riot act for not knowing were once new themselves. They need to take a step back and look at how they were when they were new. I'm sure they didn't know everything either(even though they like to think they did).

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
IV meds are covered under the basic education here. Oral antibiotics and IV usually have the same names.

What's wrong with asking why this basic skill isn't is an nurse's eduction?

It was part of the nurse's education but not relevant to the OP's question.The OP has been told it is good practice to familiarize his/herself with all of each patients meds even those he/she is not responsible for administering. It takes an inexperienced nurse (RN and LPN) awhile to learn to put together the big picture.The RN who hung the med is responsible for it-educating the patient,checking for allergies and possible interactions,not the LPN in this case.The LPN is responsible for checking allergies,possible interactions between the meds he/she is adminstering and that does include the IV.We have made that clear. I don't remember the OP telling us what the med was-there are many many more seen on med surg then just antibiotics.
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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
abatacept was the IV med and I did not know what it was for but its nice to know there are nurses like yourself that know every single med that will ever be given to any patient. :up:

IQUOTE] I stand corrected.I didn't know what it was until I looked it up and saw the brand name.It's Orencia,I've seen the commercials,it's for RA.I think it's highly doubtful the patient really did not know what it was or why they were receiving it. OP-are you using an electronic MAR? there should be a symbol next to each med that you can hover over to see it's description.

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No we still use paper mars. The only thing electronic we have is the supply room and the clock in and clock out system. Everything else is all documentation.

In the mars it just says what time to give a medication and if its a critical med that requires you know the BP, pulse etc... It will give you the Doctors parameters on when to give it and when not to.

I have heard of some nice hospitals with nice electronic charting and mars systems. Hopefully we update soon! :)

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IV meds are covered under the basic education here. Oral antibiotics and IV usually have the same names.

What's wrong with asking why this basic skill isn't is an nurse's eduction?

OP didn't say it was an antibiotic. There are a lot of medications only routinely given IV that the OP would not have encountered in school.

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I think the key question here is whether or not the OP was the primary nurse himself or rather in a team nursing situation with a RN as the primary. I've been in both situations.

If I am the primary nurse, I feel I have an obligation to know every med my pt is receiving. Even if it is an IV push med that I have to get the RN charge to administer for me due to scope of practice.

If I am working in a team nursing model it may be a different situation. As a LPN in such a model, maybe I have been assigned to pass all the PO and injectable meds to every pt on the unit. Maybe I've been assigned to do all the dressing changes. It's not really "my" pt in the same sense as when I am the primary nurse. If I'm not the primary nurse, I don't necessarily see the need to know the details of meds I'm not giving.

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