Art of the injection

The nurse goes over the basic information on how to mix the drugs and where to inject the shot. What they do not realize is giving someone an injection is second nature for them. For the rest of us, that still leaves many unknowns. These injections are considered IM (intramuscular) injections. For the medication to be absorbed properly they need to be injected into a muscle. That means the needle is thicker and longer than the subcutaneous shots I was giving myself a few months ago.

Putting a needle into someone else, especially a love one, is not as easy as you think it should be. Not being a professional, how do you overcome that desire not to cause another person pain? As you push the needle in farther, you start to worry, “Is this hurting her?” When you should be thinking, “Am I deep enough for the medication to work?”

I’m also struggling with how fast to push the plunger once the needle is in. The first one I pushed in at a slow steady pace and she asked why it took so long. For the next two I was quicker and she noticed more of a burning sensation with those two injections. I don’t know if that was because I missed the muscle, or because the medication was inserted faster. I also noticed some of the medication coming out after I remove the needle. Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong?

Physically anyone can do it, but there is an art to being good at it.

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