silly question about IV administration. Help!

[apples101]

Hello everyone, sorry for asking this silly question but i just need to clarify something about IV administration. I am aware that there are different ways of administering IV meds. via iv push, piggy back and mixing with main IV fluids. My question is HOW can i know which particular IV administration is to be used? I know that I have to check the medical record of the patient but during our training in one hospital I checked on the MR and on the route it simply says there IV (no push/piggy back etc). So how will i know? Thanks!

[KatePasa]

Do you have an IV med book? That will tell you the rate, route, dilution, compatibility, etc of the drug you are using. If you don't have one, the floor that you are working on should have one at the nurses station. Usually, there will be some info on the MAR that will give you a clue. What are the drugs?

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

You need to look up the med and see its recommended infusion time. When I worked in the hospital almost EVERYTHING was run on a pump and infused either via Y site or piggybacked as a secondary infusion.

If you have an order for "Vancomycin 2g IV q 8hr", what do you do? If you are not familiar with this drug you MUST look it up. Vanco has to be run on a pump over a minimum of 1 hr. This information is easy to find. Your facility should have some kind of online drug formulary or drug guides available on the unit.

Whether or not you infuse a med as a piggy back or via the Y port is pretty much based on the volume of the dose. If you're only giving 30 mL and it arrives from the pharmacy in a 30 mL syringe, I'd throw it on the medfusion pump and connect it to the Y site (provided it's compatible with the IVF). If it's 200 mL and comes in a bag, it gets a secondary line and gets piggybacked on the primary line.

I have never mixed an intermittent med in with main IV fluid because that's not an intermittent dose, it's a continuous infusion.