probably stupid question but what is the purpose of piggybacking medications?

[Athenas83]

I know that by piggybacking medications you don't have to stop IV fluids, but what about if the patient isn't on IV fluids. Why do you have to piggyback the antibiotic? Is it because the normal saline acts as a flush after the fact?

[NurseKatie08, MSN]

I run antibiotics by themselves quite frequently, as in a sub-acute rehab setting, my patients almost never have orders for continuous IV fluids. Maybe it is just your facility's policy to piggyback all antibiotics?

[NYCRN6]

I always piggy back everything except Heparin and Dilt.

A) If the patient is to have a reaction you can flush them with the piggy back NS

B) If the med runs dry you have the flush to go at KVO to prevent from any bubbles or tubing running dry.

Are there any other reasons I am missing?

Thanks!

[jpRN84, BSN, RN]

I run antibiotics by themselves quite frequently, as in a sub-acute rehab setting, my patients almost never have orders for continuous IV fluids. Maybe it is just your facility's policy to piggyback all antibiotics?

I have run IV abx by themselves already, and before and after giving them, you would normally check to make sure that the iv is still patent but flushing it with normal saline, or whatever your protocol says.

[*ac*]

If you run it alone, you have to prime the tubing, right? If you prime it with the abx, you risk losing some of the medicine trying to get the air bubbles out.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

I always piggy back everything

Yep, I just use a 50mL bag of NS if fluids aren't ordered.

[jpRN84, BSN, RN]

If you run it alone, you have to prime the tubing, right? If you prime it with the abx, you risk losing some of the medicine trying to get the air bubbles out.

If you do it right, you shoudlnt lose that much by getting the bubbles out. I never did lose that much, i think the pharmacy used to put a little extra in the bags just for the reason.

[NurseKatie08, MSN]

Our pharmacy does put a little extra in, usually about 10ml...I notice on all of our bags, the bag itself might say 100ml, but the label says 110ml. I've not had trouble with losing meds, but then everyone's facility has a different protocol. We flush with NS before & after abx & q shift to maintain patency.

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

I always piggy back everything except Heparin and Dilt.

A) If the patient is to have a reaction you can flush them with the piggy back NS

B) If the med runs dry you have the flush to go at KVO to prevent from any bubbles or tubing running dry.

And Kruns. It's against our policy to run them as IVPG.

Otherwise, if I have the very rare occasion of having a pt with no IVF (probably waiting an eternity for a tele bed) then I still run the Abx as IVPBs. Then I set the primary rate low with a low VTBI so when I beeps I can just turn it off.