CRNAs - question about labor epidurals - what would be the rationale?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

What would be the rationale for giving the labor patient the "test dose" AFTER giving them a bolus of medication through the needle? I can't for the life of me figure out why that would occur.

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Specializes in Women’s Health.

I'm not a CRNA but at my facility our anesthesiologists/CRNAs give a test dose first and then give the bolus dose after a few minutes (usually after 2-3 minutes). Usually they wait for the BP to recycle and to see if the pt has a negative reaction to the test dose. Maybe that practice is provider or facility specific?

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