Don't get shot by anyone...

Have you ever been so sick, that you really want to get an injection and get better as soon as possible? Many people believe that getting a shot is better and faster than taking drugs, that’s why they ask for the injection to the doctor. In Latin America is totally common that people know someone who can administrate the injection for a very low price or even free, but normally these people is not medical stuff, is normal people who thinks they know how to do it. This is something really dangerous and I am going to explain you why is always better to go with a nurse and pay for their work.

First of all, nurses (and medical staff) has been studying the anatomy of the body and pharmacology. Hanson (2021) says “Nurses have a unique role and responsibility in medication administration, in that they are frequently the final person to check to see that the medication is correctly prescribed and dispensed before administration.” (para. 1). In nursing, we have something called “The 5 Rights” or “5 R’s” and this is a standard that guides nurses at the moment of administrate medication. These 5 Right are: Right patient, Right medicine, Right route, Right time and Right dose. Is very important verify all the R, right route means if the drug has to be administrate in the blood, in the muscle, topic or oral.

When it has to be an injection, we have to be very careful. Not all medications can be administrated by the same way. Each medicine has a way, the part of the body that you have to put the injection, the angle at which the needle pierces the skin, which type of needle you need to use, the speed which you administrate the liquid. Everything is important and every drug is different. In the manual of National Harm Reduction Coalition, we can find “There are numerous and potentially very serious health complications associated with injecting illicit drugs, from injection-related injuries like tracking and bruising, to bacterial and fungal infections, from communicable diseases to drug overdoses and other medical emergencies.” (pg. 47, para. 2).

If the person who is administrating the injection doesn’t have the right knowledge of this information, can cause several problems, and even cause necrosis. If the area or needle is contaminated can lead to a dirty hit, and some bacteria could enter in the blood, muscle or skin. In the worse of the cases this could lead to necrosis and lost the part of the body where the injection was administrated. In a less several situation, you could get a bruise. This occurs when the person who is doing the work, pinches in a capillary (a small blood vessel) and doesn’t know that and injects all the medicine in that place, causing pain and a bruise for several days, even weeks.

There are a lot of several complications if you get an injection with bad praxis. Nurses and doctors has studies and complete knowledge about every medication and how to administrate it. Going with you neighbor because is free or cheaper is not the solution. Is time to recognize the effort of every nurse, and do things right.

The next time you are sick, and need an injection, do not forget that even the way the nurse cleans your skin before get the shot has a meaning. You can go to the pharmacy and ask if they have a service for administrate medication, or in Latin America you can ask a nurse for going to your house and pay an amount for getting the shot in your house. There are several ways, but going with someone who is not an expert, is not a good idea.

 

References

Hanson, A., (2021, September 12) Nursing rights of medication administration. NCBI. Retrieved March 17, 2022 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560654

 

Harm Reduction Coalition. A safety manual for injection drug users. Retrieved March 17, 2022 from https://harmreduction.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Resource-SaferDruguse-GettingOffRightASafetyManualforInjectionDrugUsers.pdf