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I realize that at first read the title might almost seem insulting to some, especially the vets, etc. Give me a moment to explain first-
As some know, I've been an ICU nurse for awhile now (and while far from infallible, a pretty good one at that). Particularly b/c we are an inter-nationally recognized hospital we are always striving to keep up with "best practice" methods to decrease infections especially (the saying is "the last place you want to be when your sick is in the hospital").
The other day, our "Practice Group" placed an incredible illustration that I hope to find where they got it so I can put it here. There was a picture of the part where you inject IV meds into the IV line. It showed the amount of bacteria on a normal "port"... ALOT. Then, there were were several other pictures showing how much bacteria was on the port after being wiped with alcohol for 1) 1 second 2) 5 seconds 3) 10 seconds and 4) 15 seconds.
Group 1&2 still had a decent amount of bacteria on it, even group 3 was a bit significant. Group 4, 15 seconds, had almost all the bacteria wiped off.
I'm guessing that most here, myself included, pretty much only wipe the vial top and our skin for maybe 3 seconds at best (if you honestly do the "1-thousand-1, 1-thousand-2, approach).
So, to help prevent introducing bacteria into either your vial or your body upon injection, try to first wipe with alcohol for 15 seconds on each (might seem like a long time, but a couple weeks on antibiotics for an abscess would seem even longer
)
Addendum- I also realize that there are probably MANY members here who have only wiped for a few seconds in both places and have never had an abscess, which is great! The same can be said for the injection ports and lack of patient infection. The point of the thread is simply to show the "best practice" method.
As some know, I've been an ICU nurse for awhile now (and while far from infallible, a pretty good one at that). Particularly b/c we are an inter-nationally recognized hospital we are always striving to keep up with "best practice" methods to decrease infections especially (the saying is "the last place you want to be when your sick is in the hospital").
The other day, our "Practice Group" placed an incredible illustration that I hope to find where they got it so I can put it here. There was a picture of the part where you inject IV meds into the IV line. It showed the amount of bacteria on a normal "port"... ALOT. Then, there were were several other pictures showing how much bacteria was on the port after being wiped with alcohol for 1) 1 second 2) 5 seconds 3) 10 seconds and 4) 15 seconds.
Group 1&2 still had a decent amount of bacteria on it, even group 3 was a bit significant. Group 4, 15 seconds, had almost all the bacteria wiped off.
I'm guessing that most here, myself included, pretty much only wipe the vial top and our skin for maybe 3 seconds at best (if you honestly do the "1-thousand-1, 1-thousand-2, approach).
So, to help prevent introducing bacteria into either your vial or your body upon injection, try to first wipe with alcohol for 15 seconds on each (might seem like a long time, but a couple weeks on antibiotics for an abscess would seem even longer
)Addendum- I also realize that there are probably MANY members here who have only wiped for a few seconds in both places and have never had an abscess, which is great! The same can be said for the injection ports and lack of patient infection. The point of the thread is simply to show the "best practice" method.
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