Hi all, I have recently started working on a Med-Surg floor. Most of our patients have many IVPB, but the problem is we are never given the rates to run them. Or worst yet, the rate listed is wrong. As some who is new, it's very scary to me to think I could possibly run something too fast. This morning, the doctor ordered one sodium chloride, 3 magnesium, and 3 potassium. The only one that had a rate was the sodium and it was 50ml/hr when another nurse told me it should be 25ml. I ran everything very slow out of fear of running the sodium and potassium too fast. The result was, I had only hung 2 of the bags before dayshift got there and I could tell she was annoyed that I didn't finish them. She pointed out I could have gotten another pump and ran more than one at once... but wouldn't this mix meds?
How is am I suppose to know the rates? What are some IVPB you need to run slowly? How do I know what I could run at the sametime without causing an adverse reaction?
I'm so worried about causing a problem for my patient, and I also want to be a thoughtful coworker. Thank you for your help.
