sign pen on labeling i.v fluids particularly i.v bottle(plastic)?

[charli]

..how true it is?.. that there will be a reaction or a chemical reaction that will affect the patient physiologically.. WHEN we use a sign pen or a pentel pen.. the INK when it touches the bottle on labelling i.v fluids (the i.v bottle/plastic) ?.. that in fact the product was labelled and with print according to manufacturer preference.

[Katnip, RN]

Don't you use labels to stick on to the bag instead of writing on it directly? That would settle an doubts.

[Crux1024]

..how true it is?.. that there will be a reaction or a chemical reaction that will affect the patient physiologically.. WHEN we use a sign pen or a pentel pen.. the INK when it touches the bottle on labelling i.v fluids (the i.v bottle/plastic) ?.. that in fact the product was labelled and with print according to manufacturer preference.

We stopped doing this at my facility, on plastic IV bags because there was a chance of the ink being drawn thorugh the bag and into the fluid (something to do with osmosis, lol) . Not sure if that ever happened, but now, as the poster said above, they use labels for the bags.

[Dixielee, BSN, RN]

I don't have an answer for you, but in the ER where sometimes we are giving large volumes of fluid, it is common for us to write the number of the bag we are hanging with our sharpie, i.e. #1 for first bag, #2 for second, etc. so we can keep up with the numbers of liters we have hung. Granted, these bags may only be hanging for a few minutes and may not have time to absorb anything. In those cases it is far faster to write the number directly on the bag rather than find a label or even a piece of tape.

[ICRN2008, BSN, RN]

We were told during orientation by the pharmacist that the ink from Sharpies can be absorbed into the IV fluids (something to do with the interaction between the alcohol-based ink and the plastic of the IV bags). We always use labels at my facility for this reason.