Too many people think an injection is a painful experience, but it need not be if the person giving it follows a few simple guidelines. Refer to the illustrated page for clarification.
Steps
- Know that a hypodermic needle is nothing more than a precision-tapered steel tube that has been bonded onto a steel or plastic funnel. Notice how the needle tapers and keep this in mind when next you inject someone. Before you do any of the following make sure you wear disposable gloves to protect from infection.
- Before you even think of injecting, inspect the needle and ensure that it is sharp and that the point is not damaged in any way.
- Disinfect the area around the intended site of injection with alcohol or whatever your particular establishment uses and do the same for your fingers and thumbs.
- Charge the syringe with the correct quantity of the substance to be injected and discard the drawing-up needle. Fit a new, sharp needle onto the syringe and hold the syringe about 20 to 25 mm (3/4 to 1 inch) from the front of the barrel, where the needle has been fitted onto it, between the thumb and forefinger of your working hand.
- Gently grasp the skin around the area to be injected with your "off" hand. Do not pinch!
- Lift the skin up and notice the way the grain of the skin runs.
- Grasp the flesh, starting with your fingers about 30mm (11/2 inches) apart and draw it together into a ridge.
- Rotate the syringe so that the taper of the needle is on one side: it must not be on top or beneath the needle.
- Insert it quickly, smoothly and surely into the skin and continue forward until the needle has penetrated to the desired depth.
- Release the skin/muscle now and use the thumb and forefinger of your "off" hand to hold the front of the syringe, so that your working hand can move back to the plunger.
- Pull back on the plunger to ensure that you have not hit a blood vessel. If the syringe does not draw up blood, slowly depress the plunger. Beware: some of the powder suspensions, notably the penicillin derivatives, are thixotropic and block the needle solidly when pressure is applied. The only solution here is to use a thicker needle. The oily injectables tend to be viscous and must be infiltrated slowly, to give the tissue enough time to disperse them.
- Once the dose has been administered, press down over the site of the injection and withdraw the needle quickly, but gently.
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