How to give medicine under the skin — Murrinh Patha

Transcript

[Text on screen] caring@home acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

[Text on screen] WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the following video tells the story of a deceased person, as told by the family. The person’s family has given permission for caring@home to share this story.

[Music plays]

[Text on screen] Video 4 – How to give medicine under the skin – caring@home logo

>>Kat Hooper (female voice over):

Bulka babulka, wanya. Welcome welcome all you mob. My name is Kat Hooper and I am a really proud Worimi woman, a descendant. I currently live, I learn, and I work and I play on the lands of the Turrabul, Jagera, and Gubbi Gubbi people.

[Text on screen] Kat  Hooper, Worimi and Gubbi Gubbi descendant

>>Kat Hooper (female voice over):
In this video I will teach you how to give medicine under the skin the right way.

The nurse will have put a cannula under the skin of your loved one. This is where the medicine goes in. The nurse will show you how to take care of the cannula.

[Text on screen] Look at the skin around the cannula

>>Kat Hooper (female voice over):

First, before giving the medicine, look at the area where the cannula enters the skin.

Look for:

• redness or a big bruise
• a big lump
• leaking medicine or
• soreness and tenderness.

If it doesn’t look good, please ring the clinic.

Don’t give any medicine through the cannula until you get advice from the nurse. If the area looks ok, then you can go ahead.

[Text on screen] Get the medicine

>>Kat Hooper (female voice over):

The next step is to get the correct medicine.

• Wash your hands with soap and water or use the pump soap.
• Check the wall chart to match the symptom with the correct medicine.
• Get the correct medicine syringe and the flush syringe out of the fridge or the esky.
• Check the syringe label to make sure you have the right medicine for the symptom your loved one is experiencing.
• As a double check, match the label against the wall chart.

If your loved one has more than one symptom, you might have to give more than one medicine.

And yes, it is ok to give more than one medicine into the same cannula, one after the other.

[Text on screen] Get ready to give the medicine

>>Kat Hooper (female voice over):

In the next step you will get ready to give the medicine.

Take the syringes and sit with your loved one and tell them they may feel the medicine going in, and that’s okay.

Tell them it should not hurt. And if it does hurt, they should tell you.

• Unscrew the blue or red cap off the medicine syringe.
• Hold the yellow Y plastic part of the cannula.
• Push the syringe into the connector on the cannula.
• Twist the syringe until it is tight.

[Text on screen] Give the medicine

>>Kat Hooper (female voice over):

You can now give the medicine.

• Slowly push the plunger end of the syringe until there is no medicine left in the syringe.
• Do the same for all other medicines you have to give.
• Once all the medicine is given, twist the empty syringe off.

Now repeat these steps to give the flush.

[Text on screen] Check everything

>>Kat Hooper (female voice over):
Next step – check everything.

Check the connector is screwed on tight and check the site again.

Look for:

• Redness or a big bruise.
• A big lump. There may be a small lump under the skin where medicine went in, and that’s okay. It will go away.
• Leaking medicine, or soreness and tenderness.

It should look good, and if it doesn’t, ring the clinic.

[Text on screen] Clean up

>>Kat Hooper (female voice over): Next step – clean up.

Put the rubbish in the bin and wash your hands.

[Text on screen] Write in the tracker

>>Kat Hooper (female voice over):

The final step after giving the medicine is to fill in the medicines book.

Fill in:

• the day
• whether it is night time or day time
• the medicine label
• the number of face that matches how your loved one feels.

About 20 minutes after you give the medicine, check your loved one and fill in the new number or face in the medicines book.

If you need to talk, please ring the clinic.

[Text on screen] caring@home logo www.caringathomeproject.com.au

[Music ends]

[Text on screen] Kat Hooper is a nurse practitioner working with the caring@home team and played the role of a family member in this video. caring@home logo

caring@home for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families is funded by the Australian Government and led by Brisbane South Palliative Care Collaborative. caring@home logo

End of transcript