Intravenous infusion drug administration: flushing guidance

This guidance has been produced in response to recently published concerns about the discarded amount of intravenous medication which is left remaining in an intravenous giving set at the end of an IV Infusion.

This document has been prepared and reviewed by the board of the National Infusion and Vascular Access Society (NIVAS) of the United Kingdom. The NIVAS board membership consists of specialist nurses and doctors who are experts in the field of IV therapy and vascular access. They are all well published and are currently working in clinical practice.

This document is intended to give healthcare professionals guidance on what is considered evidenced based best practice. Where a gap in evidence exists, expert consensus will be offered.

A perceived and theoretical risk of under dosing of intravenous medication has been reported recently in the literature. The literature indicates that between 5% and 20% of intravenous drug is left remaining in the tubing of the intravenous giving set once the infusion bag becomes empty at the end of the administration.