Administering Parenteral Medications
-Parenteral route- is a method of giving drugs by injection using a needle
and syringe
-Equipment
-Syringes
-Needles
-Needless systems
-Drawing up medications
-From a vial
-Cleanse
-Inject air
-Withdraw measured dose
-From an ampule
-Medication at bottom of ampule
-Break neck of ampule
-Insert needle in ampule and withdraw medication
-Reconstituting- process of adding the recommended amount of fluid
to dissolve; usually with a powdered drug.
-Injection sites
-Intradermal sites- are usually administered into the skin on the inner
surface of the lower arm.
-Subcutaneous sites- are the fatty tissues on the outer upper arm, the
front of the thigh, the abdomen, and the upper back below the
shoulder blades.
-Intramuscular sites- place the needle deep into body tissue where
there are nerve bundles, large blood vessels, and bones.
-General procedure for injections
-Locate and inspect the injection site
-Disinfect the skin
-Stretch and firm the skin
-Insert the needle at the proper angle
-Release the skin and change the hand position
-Aspirate
-Inject the medication slowly
-Firm the skin and remove the needle
-Remove and discard equipment
-Chart the medication
-Observe the patient for expected and adverse reactions
-Site rotation- the practice of injecting into different locations so as to avoid
damaging tissue by repeated injections.
-Refer to pages 403-408 on how to properly draw up medications from a vial
/ ampule, administering an intradermal injection, and administering
subcutaneous intramuscular injections.