re: Prayers Needed from the OT Community *Update Page 28*

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If it was a flush, would it still be recorded on his chart?

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Not necessarily. If you have an IV that is not working properly...not unusual to give a small NS flush to troubleshoot (is the site leaking when you flush, does it start to puff up). In that example...this would let you know the IV has infiltrated and the site is no good and the IV needs to be removed and restarted at another site. And you don't always chart every flush you give. However...on the inpatient side of peds...you are typically required (depending on the hospital) to chart on the IV site every hour if fluids are infusing (every 2 if they are not). This is your proof that you are actually looking at the IV every hour to make sure the site looks ok.

So I would imagine at the clinic the nurse would have had to document somewhere on the IV site on a regular basis. (I hope so considering IV fluids were running and not every patient may need IV fluids).


So it is possible the push could have been a flush and the nurse just didn't say anything. When I was at the bedside I always told the parents everything I was doing to their child ("I just need to flush this IV, this is the med for this, we need blood for labs to look for this, etc). Keeps the parents properly informed, lets them relax a little, and establishes a trust between us.