Preparing Injectables

[shannonFNP, BSN, MSN, RN]

Hi yall =) I was wondering: When you are mixing two meds for injection, how do you leave enough in the syringe for priming the needle? My notes say onces the medications are mixed you cannot eject any of the medication out of the syringe and that you draw exact amounts. But what if you get air in the syringe when you're pulling out the second med? You'll have to expel the air and prime the needle, won't you?

[APBT mom, LPN, RN]

The way we were taught was however much a the med we were pulling from the A vial pull air into the syringe and push it in. Same with the B vial but in this case pull out what your going to use and get your bubbles out. When you go back to the A vial pull what you need very slowly, the faster you pull the more bubbles you get and make sure you keep an eye on the bevel and that it stays in the liquid. Then when you get your bubbles (use a pen to tap the syringe it'll save your fingers) to the top what I do is remove the syringe from the vial and push it out that way. If I need more I pull more out from A bottle vial (I take the B vial and will either stick it in my pocket or turn my back to it so I don't mistakenly pull anymore of that vial). I repeat until I get all the bubbles out. You don't have to prime the needle because there is liquid still in it because you didn't pull air into the syringe after you have pulled whatever amount you need.

It looks confusing to type it out but once you do it a few times it makes sense.

Good luck.