Medication Administration

Today we are going to review how to administer an intramuscular shot at home.

To get started, arrange all of the necessary supplies on a flat surface. For an intramuscular injection you’ll need the following: The vial of medication, alcohol prep pads, an 18-guage drawing needle, a 3mL syringe, and a 25G 1in needle.

First, you will open the syringe and the 18-gauge needle. Twist off the attached 25G needle and attach the drawing needle to the syringe.

After the needle is attached, set the prepped syringe down and sanitize the vial access point with an alcohol prep pad.

After the vial has been prepped, carefully remove the cap of the 18-gauge needle, invert the medication vial, and insert the needle into the access point on the vial. Keep the bevel of the needle under the fluid in the vial to ensure you are pulling up medication into the syringe and not air.

Draw up prescribed amount of medication into syringe. The top of the black stopper on the syringe indicates the volume in the syringe.

Carefully place the needle back into the cap that is sitting on the field. Once the cap is loosely attached, carefully detach the needle pinching at the connection site and twisting off. Properly dispose in sharps container.

Attach the 25- gauge needle to prepare for intramuscular administration.

Use patient specific landmarks to identify the best injection location. First, find the acromion process, which is a boney fixture found that sticks slightly out of the center of the shoulder blade. Once that is identified, the optimal injection site is approximately two inches below.

Once injection site is identified, prep area in a circular motion using an alcohol prep pad and allow to dry. After prepping the area, insert the needle at a 90-degree angle and push in all the prepared medication using the syringe plunger. The viscosity of the medication being will affect how easy the medication is administered, for example testosterone and vitamin D are both oil-based and very viscous requiring more pressure and time to inject than other non-oil-based injections.

After all the medication has been pushed in, remove the needle, and dispose in the closest sharps container. If more than one injection is being administered at a time, separate injection sites by one inch.

If someone at home is assisting you with your intramuscular injections, they can alternatively inject into the glute. Identify the most prominent and widest fixture of the hip. Mark this spot by keeping your thumb in place on the bone. Using your pointer finger, find the top border of the pelvic bones. Once identified, using your finger placement, determine the center of the area. The best injection cite will be approximately two inches closer to the hip bone.

Once injection site is identified, prep area in a circular motion using an alcohol prep pad and allow to dry. After prepping the area, insert the needle at a 90-degree angle and push in all the prepared medication using the syringe plunger.

After all the medication has been pushed in, remove the needle, and dispose in the closest sharps container. If more than one injection is being administered at a time, separate injection sites by one inch.

Medication Administration by R3 Health