Subcutaneous (SubQ) Medication Administration: Special Considerations (Nursing)

00:04 Let's talk about some special considerations in regards to the subcutaneous or SubQ injection.

00:10 So, looking at the do's and dont's of subcutaneous administration, let's first look at the things we don't do.

00:17 Let's not massage the medication into the subcutaneous layer.

00:21 This is particularly important with any sort of blood thinner given for DVT or blood clot prevention.

00:29 This is a common medication you're gonna give in clinicals.

00:33 Give me an example of this is when I give a subcutaneous injection of a blood thinner in the abdomen, as soon as I give the medicine, I wanna teach my patient and I also as a healthcare provider do not want to massage that site.

00:48 That can cause excessive bruising and complications for your patient.

00:52 Next, with a subcutaneous injection, you do not want to aspirate for blood when giving this type of injection.

00:59 Alright, let's talk about the things that we need to remember that are important and that we do for this injection. One is we wanna withdraw the medication right before we go give the medication administration or go give the injection.

01:14 Reason being is a lot of this medication is very, very important on the dosage and we wanna make sure that as soon as we draw it out, we go give it.

01:25 Also, make sure you teach your patients and you as the nurse rotate sites for injection.

01:31 This is a key teaching point for our diabetics. Let me give you an instance for that.

01:38 If I have a newly diabetic patient or even a patient that's been diabetic, it's important for us as nursing to teach them that they need to rotate injection sites every time they take an injection.

01:50 Reason being if we keep poking the same spot and delivering medication there, malabsorption in that area will occur.

02:00 The patient will not get the full absorption of all their meds.

02:03 Therefore, we wanna teach them, make sure your rotate sites.