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Review
26 April, 2021
There is a lack of standardised practice and national guidance to support flushing technique following administration of intravenous medicines. This article summarises new guidelines on post infusion flushing
Abstract
There is a lack of standardised practice and national guidance to support flushing technique after administration of intravenous medicines. To help healthcare organisations review their practice and procedures to tackle underdosing due to non-flushing, the National Infusion and Vascular Access Society has updated its guidance on post-infusion flushing. This article summarises its key recommendations.
Citation: Dix A (2021) Line flushing to prevent medicine loss after intravenous fluid therapy.
Nursing Times [online]; 117: 5, 22-23.
In 2019, an article in a pharmaceutical journal reported that patients were being put at risk by most adult patients not having their intravenous (IV)-giving sets flushed. This had been brought to light through a patient safety forum and was quite the scandal.
As chair of the National Infusion and Vascular Access Society (NIVAS), and a nurse practitioner for IV therapy at the time, I was a little confused about this. Although my formal IV therapy training had been nearly 20 years ago, I had no recollection of being taught to flush the IV-giving set after the infusion bag was empty. I asked around and confirmed that, apart from oncology and paediatrics, this was certainly not common practice in adult nursing in the UK.