IV Therapy in Forest Hills
We highly value professional approach in all we do. IV therapy is something that must be done with great care and expert skills. Our well-educated nursing staff at Fairview Rehab & Nursing Home in Forest Hills, NY, administer this therapy with great confidence. We use Heplock, Perferal, PICC lines, and central carterers when the situation requires. Or, if patient GI tracts are compromised, we administer TPN (total parenteral nutrition). Our training encompasses a broad range of complications. This way, we’re equipped to care for patients no matter what.
IV Certified Nurses
All our staff nurses have completed industry level training. When they treat patients who require IV therapy, they’re equipped to administer it safely. They are all BCL and/or ACL certified. It’s part of ensuring the care we provide is the best possible.
Our nurses are experienced in acute care, and have excellent clinical skills. We provide nursing support at Fairview 24/7. Patients can rest assured if they need something at any time, someone will be there to help.
PICC Lines
This type of intravenous therapy is used as a central catheter. PICC lines only need to be inserted once.
This means we can minimise putting patients through unnecessary medical procedures. It is able to safely remain in a patient’s vein for a long period of time, often until the end of treatment.
Throughout this period, they deliver hydration and antibiotic therapy to patients.
Ensuring Patient Safety While Administering IV Therapy
As stated, we use PICC lines to ensure we only have to put the tube in a patient once for the course of their treatment. We focus on ensuring patient comfort during the process of healing. Because of this, when we administer IVs, we do so with great care. Fairview’s highly-trained nurses maintain the principles of safe IV therapy strictly.
When We Administer IV Therapy
If a patient has dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, or requires medication, we use IVs.
It’s an option for fluid administration that ensures patients get nutrients they need. Also if their digestion is compromised, this allows us to work around it and provide care.
IV THERAPY F.A.Q
Why is IV therapy administered?
IV is applied to patients for many reasons. It’s the quickest way to deliver medications to those who need urgent care. This means medication enters the patient’s bloodstream immediately.
IV treatment can also be the best way to administer drugs in an emergency. Our expertly trained staff insert a needle attached to a thin tube into an appropriate vein. The medication then drips down from a bag through the tube and into your bloodstream. Our staff exercise extreme care when conducting IV therapy.
Obviously before we do IV therapy each patient’s medical history is fully taken into account. All patients get a thorough check-up before any IV interventions.
Apart from momentary discomfort caused by insertion of the needle or tube, this tried and tested treatment is painless. Sometimes patients feel almost immediate benefits.
What are the benefits of IV treatment?
Many adults and elderly people can benefit enormously from IV therapy. It’s an excellent way to give them nutrients to make them feel better. IV therapy can also deliver selected medicines or fluids to treat things like electrolyte imbalances.
Elderly people often have difficulty swallowing and digesting food. IV therapy can be the best way to get the vital nutrients your body needs into the bloodstream. IV therapy may also involve the delivery of fluids to counter dehydration, or antibiotics to deal with infections.
There are many other potential uses for IV treatments. For instance, for those with very low blood pressure, IV therapy can help increase blood sugar levels.
IV treatment can also help people with other conditions. IV therapy has been known to improve the condition of those with persistent migraines, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Sometimes those wanting a nutritional or immunity boost may also benefit from the treatment.
Our nurses and doctors go to great lengths to explain the procedures involved in IV therapy. They tell you what medication will address which specific ailments. We inform loved ones as well as the patients themselves of what to expect, so there are no surprises.
Is IV treatment safe?
IV therapy has been used in clinics and hospitals for decades. It is very safe provided professional trained experts carry out the therapy. These specialists always carry out an evaluation of the patient’s medical condition and history.
Specialists tend not to offer IV therapy as a matter of routine. Rather, it is appropriate and beneficial in certain specific circumstances. For instance, it may be risky for people with heart problems: Too many fluids in the blood can put an additional strain on the heart. If you have an allergy you should tell the doctor, as this may also affect your assessment for treatment.
What is IV nutritional therapy?
Food contains nutrients and if you can’t swallow, or have a problem digesting food, then you may need IV therapy.
When we eat, nutrients are digested slowly and react with other nutrients. Most importantly they pass through the liver, which acts as a kind of filter. Using IV therapy to get nutrients into the body quickly, bypasses these natural safety mechanisms. Our skilled nurses and therapists are aware of this. They take the best preventive and other measures to ensure the patient is not adversely affected.
IV nutritional therapy carries risks such as bruising, infection and bleeding. However, with careful management, these risks are kept to a minimum. Furthermore, in some cases patients may die if they cannot get the nutrients they require. So in certain specific situations IV treatment is right, beneficial and necessary.
For instance, a low level of Vitamin B12 may be a problem for some elderly people. If they cannot get the vitamin by eating, injecting it into the body via IV therapy may be vital. However, our Fairview Rehab & Nursing Home’s specialists always act with caution, taking into account the circumstances of each patient. Above all, we are responsive and caring.
We treat our patients as one of the family and ensure their comfort at all times during IV therapy.
