Things You'll Need

Instructions

How to Give a Subcutaneous Injection

1

WASH YOUR HANDS. WASH YOUR HANDS. WASH YOUR HANDS. Simple hand washing with a liquid (not bar) soap and warm water can prevent infections and actually saves lives. Dry your hands with a disposable paper towel. Examine your fingernails for any dirt, and clean as necessary.
2

Assemble all the necessary equipment you will need for the injection including the medication, syringe, alcohol swab and whatever else is needed. This may seem like a no brainer, however, many people get very anxious about injections, and if you provide a calm and prepared environment, their fear may lessen.
3

Read out loud the prescription as printed on the instructions or medication. Read it again. If you have any questions, call your nurse before you do anything else. Read the information again.
4

Draw up the correct amount of medication. Check this against the written prescription or instruction sheet. An old rule of thumb is that if you feel the amount "looks" wrong, you need to recheck the directions against the amount in the syringe. Trust your gut.
5

After drawing up the correct amount of medication invert the syringe with the needle end up and GENTLY tap the barrel of the syringe to release any air bubbles. Gently push in the syringe plunger to expel the air.
6

Using an alcohol swab, gently cleanse the injection site using a circular motion of the swab to the skin. You should not rub the swab back and forth since this simply moves the germs from one end of the site to the other. An expanding circular motion cleanses the site without reintroducing any of the skin's debris.
7

You may want to wash your hands once more time before putting on your clean disposable gloves if any medication has spilled on them or you feel they have become contaminated. Generally, this is a good practice to get into whether you feel like your hands got dirty or not.
8

Pinch up the skin slightly and inject the needle at a 45 degree angle. This will place the needle and the medication beneath the skin where it should be, and not directly into a muscle.
9

Before injecting (gently pushing in the syringe plunger), pull back on the plunger slightly and see if any blood comes back into the syringe. If there is a blood return, immediately remove the needle and discard it. YOU NEVER WANT TO DIRECTLY INJECT ANY MEDICATION INTO A BLOOD VESSLE. THIS CAN BE HARMFUL OR EVEN LIFE THREATENING.
10

After making certain there isn't any blood return--slowly, but steadily inject the medication. After the medication has been injected, remove the needle and gently massage the area with another alcohol swab.
11

Congratulations...you are all done! Now you clean up, properly dispose of the needles and medication...and enjoy the rest of your day or evening.