Scenario 3

Question

You are told by the nurse's aide that one of your clients is complaining about her IV site. She needs the IV for fluids and blood products later before surgery.

a. What are the signs and symptoms you would look for in an IV site that is no longer functioning properly?
b. How would you go about explaining to the client the need to discontinue the current IV site and restart a new site?
c. Describe what equipment you would need and what steps you would take to perform the task.
d. What do you look for in monitoring an IV site while infusing fluids?

Answer 1

Students' answers should include the following:
a. Discussion of whether an IV site can still be infusing and not completely be infiltrated or starting to go bad and what options should the nurse take with the client complaining of pain, tenderness, etc., can be included.
b. Discussion include explaining to the client the signs and symptoms of an IV site that has gone bad and why the client needs to have an IV site and then explain what the process is to discontinue the present site.
Also, discuss what signs to monitor for in the discontinued site such as infiltration, inflammation, redness, tenderness, fever, etc.
Explaining how to approach different types of clients in starting a new IV site can be discussed here with the process of starting a new site on various types of clients.
c. List the equipment to gather to start a new site and then go through the steps in selecting a new site for the IV. Discuss whether or not to use the same extremity and why.
d. Discuss how to look for early signs that an IV site might be going bad, the site might not be tolerating the flow rate, or the site might be in an area that is not appropriate due to location on the client.