Intravenous (IV) Catheter Insertion: Completing the Procedure (Nursing)

00:04 Now that all of that's wrapped up and it's securely in place, we need to return to the bed to the lowest position.

00:11 We can discard any used supplies and make sure anything sharp with a needle goes into that sharps box at your facility.

00:19 We can now remove our gloves, and make sure we perform our hand hygiene, and then we can make sure we document the procedure.

00:27 Cuz if you do remember, if we don't document, it wasn't done.

00:35 Okay, so now that we've just inserted the IV and we definitely have gotten the patient cleaned up.

00:40 Now, we need to make sure we return the bed to the lowest position before we leave our patient.

00:45 Also, don't forget to discard all your used supplies.

00:49 Now, if you remember, when we inserted the catheter, it's only the catheter that's left, and the needle retracted into the safety device.

00:58 Because the needle is in here, we need to dispose, excuse me, of this properly.

01:03 This will go into what we call the sharps container.

01:07 Usually it's really nice, cuz they're easily identifiable and they're red.

01:11 So, I'm gonna take my needle and discard it in the sharps.

01:16 Alright, so now that we've done that, we can get rid of our trash, we can remove our gloves, perform hand hygiene and make sure we document that procedure.

01:31 Now, let's look at IV care and maintenance.

01:33 So, first of all, we should assess it at least every four hours.

01:37 And when we assess, we need to look at that insertion site, look for the presence of redness, swelling, warmth, and complaints of pain from our clients.

01:48 We also wanna look around the catheter for any visible redness in the veins, any swelling, areas that even could be cool to the touch.

01:56 This could indicate a serious problem called infiltration or extravasation of the vein.

02:03 Now, if our dressing is soiled, or wet, it's starting to peel away from the skin, we should definitely replace that so we can keep that good barrier for that insertion site.

02:15 And the IV catheter should be flushed gently with normal saline to make sure it's nice and patent for use.