Everything you should know about Intravenous Therapy
As we all know that Intravenous therapy is widely used in the medical and health sector in order to cure patients. Most of us have either experienced or seen the Intravenous therapy, let’s find out what is exactly Intravenous therapy.
What is Intravenous therapy?
The intravenous therapy is a phenomenon in which a patient is given essential liquids, medicines, drugs through a needle which is pierced in a vein (arms or back of the hands). The needle is nothing but an I.V Cannula (medical device). This procedure can take normally a few hours, days, months; depending upon the therapy and condition of the patient.
In some cases where the patient suffers from dehydration, in that case, he/she normally takes up to 2–3 days. Long term therapies may take up to many days, months.
The procedure of Intravenous therapy
The Intravenous therapy basically requires a few things which are:-
Ø Medical Gloves
Ø Tourniquet
Ø Chloraprep wipe
Ø Apron
Ø Fresh towel
Ø I.V Cannula
Ø I.V Set
Ø Cotton
Ø Drip (medicinal liquids in a transparent bag)
Ø Drip Stand
Firstly, the I.V access site is cleaned with the help of a Chloraprep wipe. Then the tourniquet is tied on the upper arm (near the elbow). The needle is then inserted in the selected vein with great caution. Nursing staff should properly pull out the needle after insertion so that they couldn’t get needle stick injuries, which can prove out to be very dangerous for them.
After the intravenous cannulation process, the I.V Catheter is then connected to the intravenous set. The intravenous set further connects with the drip. The drip is being hanged on a drip stand. The flow of the liquid is maintained by the flow regulator.
The flow of the liquid must be maintained and should be closely monitored. The nursing staff must ensure that the exact flow of the liquid is maintained so that the patient doesn’t feel uncomfortable.
Although, the nursing staff is very skilled and they carry out the whole procedure very swiftly.
Intravenous Therapy is a widely followed and used technique nowadays to cure certain diseases and problems. However, the chances of infections and needle stick injuries don’t hamper the usage of this technology.
