Reflection on Administering IV Zofran Injection

Reflection
Reflection
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
Reflection
Description
In this paper I have decided to reflect upon my experience with the administration of
an IV Zofran injection to an elderly female patient, who had undergone a chemotherapeutic
treatment. Zofran IV injection is normally given alone or with other medications to prevent
vomiting and nausea (US Food and Drug Administration, 2014). I entered in to the room with
the IV toolkit. On approaching the patient, I thought of making the ambience lighter and tried
to make some informal talk. I checked the prescription and the cross checked my ampoule
with the dosage mentioned in the prescription. I performed the five moments of hand
hygiene before administering the medicine. I proceeded to administer the catheter for
injection. Using the non-dominant hand, stabilising the patient’s limbs, the needle is inserted
in to the skin. At first I missed a vein, but I apologised to the patients and removed the
needle, trying it on another limb. After that I advanced the catheter in to the vein, removed
the tourniquet and secured the catheter by putting a sterile bandage or dressing. After the
entire procedure, I disposed off the needle in the sharps and documented it in the notes
Feelings
I felt anxious while inserting the needle, although this was my fourth time of
administering an IV medication. My peers explained to me the entire procedure that relieved
my anxiety to some extent. I was a nervous as my patient had been suffering from terminal
illness and I did not want to cause them discomfort and pain.

2
Reflection
Evaluation
Overall I felt that the entire clinical procedure went well, as after the entire procedure,
I talked to my patient to check how they were feeling and if they were comfortable by the
way the injection has been administered. I received feedback from the registered nurse and
realised that I had forgotten to receive consent from the patients before touching him.
Informed consent gives autonomy to the patient to make choices about their treatment
regimen, but I found that I had missed this important part, while I was trying to conduct the
clinical procedure. Secondly, I became a bit upset as I was unable to locate the vein at a go
and felt a bit perturbed as repeated insertion of the needle might hurt the patient. However, I
was mindful in using words of comfort like “Ok. It’s no one’s fault and we will get it right
the next time”. However, I tried to follow my mentor, performed the moments of hand
hygiene as I had knowledge about how potential pathogens might enter the body during an
invasive procedure, in a clinical settings if hand hygiene is not performed properly. I made
sure that that I communicated with the patient before and after the procedure. I was also
mindful about the use of the personal protective equipment, being a part of the aseptic
protocol. I made sure to don gloves and apron.
Analysis
The dangerous events that can be caused due to medication error is one of the main
challenges that is faced in critical care. IV administration for the graduate nurses has always
been a challenging task as complications such as infiltration, hematoma, air embolism and
extravascular drug administration might occur (Wolf, Annas & Elias, 2013). Hence, I had to
be very careful during the insertion of the needle and the cannula. Informed consent is an
important part of the nursing ethics and missing consent seeking might bring about legal
proceedings against health care professionals, if the condition of the patient deteriorates