Name: ___________________________________________________________________ Date: ______________

Evaluator/Signature: ________________________________________________________ Grade: _____________

ADMINISTERING INTRADERMAL INJECTIONS

Definition:

Purpose:

●
●

Equipment:

● Medication chart or the medication ticket

● Vial or ampule of the correct medication
● Sterile 1-ml syringe calibrated into hundredths of a milliliter and a 25- to 27- gauge needles that is ¼ to 5/8 inches long
● Antiseptic swabs
● Sterile gauze squares
● Non-sterile gloves
● Epinephrine (on hand)

Special Considerations:

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NURSING COMPETENCY WORKBOOK 41

1. Check the medication chart and the medication ticket.

● Check the label of the ampule carefully against the medication chart/ticket to make sure the correct medication is being prepared.
● Follow the three checks for administering medications. Read the label on the medication (1) when it is taken from the medication cabinet, (2) before withdrawing
the medication, (3) after withdrawing the medication.
● Check for allergies.
2. Organize the equipment.

PERFORMED
PROCEDURE RATIONALE REMARKS
YES NO
1. Wash hands and observe other appropriate infection control
procedures.

2. Prepare the drug dosage from a vial or ampule.

3. Provide for client privacy.

4. Prepare the client. Check the client’s identification band.

5. Explain that the medication will produce a small bleb like a

blister. The client will feel a slight prick as the needle enters the
skin. Some medications are absorbed slowly through the
capillaries into the general circulation, and the bleb gradually
disappears. Other drugs remain in the area and interact with the
body tissues to produce redness and induration (hardening),
which will need to be interpreted at a particular time, eg. in 24 or
48 hours. This reaction will also gradually disappear.
6. Select a site.

PERFORMED
PROCEDURE RATIONALE REMARKS
YES NO
7. Put on gloves as indicated by agency policy.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NURSING COMPETENCY WORKBOOK 41

8. Cleanse the skin using a gauze square or moist swab. Start at the
center and widen the circle outward. Allow the area to dry
thoroughly.

9. Remove the needle cap while waiting for the antiseptic to dry.

10. Expel any air bubbles from the syringe. Small bubbles that
adhere to the plunger are of no consequence.

11. Grasp the syringe in your dominant hand, holding it between

thumb and four fingers, with your palm upward. Hold the needle
at a 150 angle to the skin surface, with the bevel of the needle up.

12. With the non-dominant hand, pull the skin at the site until it is
taut, and thrust the tip of the needle firmly through the epidermis
into the dermis.

13. Stabilize the syringe and needle then inject the medication
carefully and slowly so that it produces a small bleb on the skin.

14. Withdraw the needle quickly while providing counteraction on

the skin, and wipe the injection site gently with a dry sterile
gauze pad. DO not massage the area.

15. Dispose of the syringe and needle safely.

PERFORMED
PROCEDURE RATIONALE REMARKS
YES NO
16. Remove gloves.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NURSING COMPETENCY WORKBOOK 41

 17. Circle the injection site with ink to observe for redness or
induration.

18. Document all relevant information.

Learner’s Reflection: (What did you learn most of the activity? What is its impact to Instructor’s Comments:
you?)

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NURSING COMPETENCY WORKBOOK 41