Did you know...

There are several kinds of IV's that are avaiable to use on a patient in the hospital.

Before meeting a patient for the first time, check to see what IV is flowing and what the rate is BEFORE going into their room.

After introducing yourself check the IV bag to make sure the correct fluid is running and that it is flowing at the correct rate.

I was at Clincial on friday and went into my patients room introduced myself, and then I checked the IV. The IV that was listed to run was Lactated Ringers. I came to find that the solution that was actually running was D5 1/4 NS. (5% Dextrose 1/4 Normal Saline) I finished up my assessment and went and told my nurse of the discovery that I had made.

We check the eMAR (medication list) and then we check the MD orders. Both said the IV was suppossed to be Lactated Ringers. Now this wouldn't be such a problem for any other patient, however this was bad for mine. He was a diabetic.

So what does this mean?

You never give a Dextrose IV to a diabetic becasue it's SUGAR!!!

So an incident report was filled out.

And I saved the day!!!