As a vascular access nurse I was asked to a meeting to discuss some IV fluid preparation that is being done in our Pre-op are. Does anyone here know if INS has a standard for how long an IV bag can be spiked before it's administered to a patient. Our operating room staff pre-spikes bagges the evening before for the next day. This is done to save time in the morning when they are very hectic with a lot of patients coming. Our infection control department is looking for any evidence to support this or do they need to change their practice.
Information on this comes from USP <797>, which is a set of mandatory rules titled Compounding Sterile Preparations. That document has stated 1 hour before infusion for spiking fluid containers. The night before is asking for problems! Tip caps can fall off. Housekeeping can disturb them. Medications could be injected into them. This so called time saver is increasing patient risk. Lynn
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, NPD-BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861
Also, you need to find and read this paper from APIC on Safe Injection and Infusion Practices - https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(16)00283-2/pdf
It is not a free download, but your facility librarian should be able to obtain it. It only costs $14 though for online purchase.
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, NPD-BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861