Reduced availability of IV fluids is having impacts in veterinary and human health. This may be the time to rethink how IV flushes are often prepared in veterinary practice.
The use of prefilled NaCl 0.9% syringes may be your answer.
Prefilled IV flush syringes are better because:
- they are convenient
- they remain sterile until you open the pack before use
- it is a time saver – you don’t need to waste time drawing up every, single flush
- it is cleaner – you don’t need to worry about whether the port was swabbed and allowed to dry before being punctured or whether the person has performed hand hygiene before they started making the flushes up (in short, adherence to aseptic non-touch technique (ANTT))
- you reduce the risk of catheter-associated blood stream infections