What are the four common complications of administering anything IV?

Complications of gaining I.V. may include infiltration, hematoma, an air

embolism, phlebitis, extravascular drug administration, and intra-arterial injection.
Intraarterial injection is more rare, but as threatening.
Preventing IV infections
Use alcohol port protectors (Curos, shown above) on all adult patients with
central lines. When caring for a central line catheter: Do not routinely rotate central
venous catheters or PICC sites to prevent infection.
Can you get sepsis from an IV?
If you have an infection of the bone, called osteomyelitis, it could lead
to sepsis. In people who are hospitalized, the bacteria that trigger sepsis can enter
the body through IV lines, surgical incisions, urinary catheters, and bed sores.
Anyone can get it, but certain groups of people are at greater risk.
How is IV phlebitis treated?
1. Stop the infusion at the first sign of redness or pain.
2. Apply warm, moist compresses to the area.
3. Document your patient's condition and interventions.
4. If indicated, insert a new catheter at a different site, preferably on the
opposite arm, using a larger vein or a smaller device and restart the infusion.
Which organism is related to IV site infections?
Most IV central line infections are caused by coagulase-negative
staphylococci; less commonly they are due to Staphylococcus aureus. Even less
commonly, central IV line infections are caused by “water organisms” (e.g.,
Serratia, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas cepacia, Citrobacter, Flavobacteria, etc.).
How often should IV Cannula be changed?
Use 2% alcoholic chlorhexidine for skin disinfection before the insertion of
peripheral IV catheter. Use intermittent flushing to maintain the peripheral IV
catheter patency. Replace peripheral IV catheters every 72–96 hours, but not more
often, in adult patients.

INS (Infusion Nurses Society) Standards in Infusion Therapy

 Site selection. To minimize the number of needle sticks the patient must
undergo in the course of I.V. line placement, use visualization technologies,
such as bedside portable ultrasound, if available and you're trained to use
them. Document the use of ultrasound or other imaging technology in the
patient's medical record.
 Catheter stabilization. Use a manufactured catheter stabilization device to
minimize unscheduled restarts and loss of vascular access. A catheter
dressing is no longer considered adequate to secure the vascular access
device. Sterile tape, surgical strips, or a manufactured securement device
must be used to preserve the patient's and your safety. Proper catheter
stabilization minimizes the need for unplanned restarts, reducing infection
risk and helping to prevent loss of access and infiltration and extravasation.
If you use sterile tape or surgical strips, apply them only to the catheter
adapter—not directly on the catheter-skin junction site.
 Site rotation. Peripheral catheters in adult patients may now routinely dwell
for 72 hours, as long as they're free from observable complications. Replace
a peripheral catheter inserted under emergency conditions as soon as feasible
because of infection risk from a breach in aseptic insertion technique. Forty-
eight hours is the maximum recommended dwell time under these
circumstances. Restart or remove a peripheral I.V. catheter if the patient
complains of discomfort or pain related to the catheter that can't be
corrected, or if the site develops complications.
 I.V. administration set changes. Change primary administration sets and
any piggyback (secondary) tubing that remains continuously attached to
them every 72 hours to minimize breaks in the closed administration system.
Also replace them whenever the sterile fluid pathway may have been
compromised. You should change intermittent infusion sets without a
primary infusion every 24 hours or whenever their sterility is in question.
 Blood administration sets should be replaced with every unit of blood (or
every 4 hours, whichever comes first), but parenteral nutrition tubing for
infusions without fat emulsions should now be changed every 72 hours.
Replace parenteral nutrition tubing used to administer fat emulsions every
24 hours.
 Remember, you should change add-on devices used with I.V. administration
sets (filters, stopcocks, needleless system devices) whenever the
administration sets are changed. All I.V. tubing and add-on devices must
have a twist-lock design to prevent accidental disconnection, which can
result in infection or other serious complications.
 Sterile infusion product preparation. If you must mix parenteral
medications before administration, make sure you're properly trained to use
equipment specific for admixing medications. Many facilities now choose to
use closed add-on systems consisting of minibags of I.V. solutions and
medication vials to remove the risk of contamination when mixing while
preserving the stability benefits associated with admixing each dose at the
time of administration.