Routes and Angles
This injection route is typically administered at a 90° angle.
What is intramuscular (IM)?
This muscle of the upper arm is commonly used for vaccines in adults.
What is the deltoid?
This is the medical term for giving medication by a route other than the digestive tract.
What is parenteral administration?
True or false: A used needle should be recapped before being placed in the sharps container.
What is false?
Your patient sees the needle and says, "I'm going to pass out." What should you do FIRST?
Position the patient safely, such as sitting or lying down, and assess them before proceeding.
This injection route places medication into fatty tissue beneath the skin.
What is subcutaneous (SQ)?
This SQ injection site is located on the abdomen while avoiding the immediate area around the umbilicus.
What is the abdomen?
Before administering a medication, you should verify the patient's what?
What are name and date of birth?
Used needles should immediately be disposed of here.
What is an approved sharps container?
The provider orders a TB skin test. Name the route and general location.
What is intradermal, typically the inner forearm?
This route is commonly used when administering a TB skin test.
What is intradermal (ID)?
This IM site is located on the lateral thigh.
What is the vastus lateralis?
Name three pieces of information you should check on a medication label.
Medication name, strength/dose, expiration date, route/form.
A student accidentally sticks themselves with a needle during lab. What should they do?
Stop immediately and report the needlestick/exposure according to school/site protocol.
Medication order: B12 0.5 mL IM
The patient says, “Can you just put it in my stomach? That's where I give myself my other shots.” How do you respond?
The ordered route is IM. The abdomen is commonly used for subcutaneous injections. The MA cannot independently change the ordered route just because the patient requests it.
An intradermal injection is typically inserted at approximately this angle.
What is 5–15°?
This IM site is located using landmarks around the greater trochanter and iliac crest.
What is the ventrogluteal site?
This should be created when performing a correctly placed intradermal TB injection.
What is a wheal?
You prepared an injection and then realize you're unsure whether you selected the correct medication. What should you do?
Stop and verify before administering it.
The provider orders:
Medication A 10 mg/mL — administer 1 mL IM
You retrieve a vial of Medication A, but the concentration is 20 mg/mL. What do you do next?
he concentration doesn't match the order as written. The MA needs to stop, verify the dose/concentration and perform any calculation only within training, authorization, and facility policy rather than automatically giving 1 mL.
Name all three injection routes commonly practiced in MA lab and their typical angles.
What are ID 5–15°, SQ 45–90°, and IM 90°
Show your instructor how you would landmark the deltoid site on a partner or mannequin.
Locate the acromion process — the bony prominence at the top of the shoulder. Place 2–3 fingerbreadths below the acromion process. Visualize an inverted triangle on the upper arm.
Name the medication-administration rights
Right patient, medication, dose, route, time, documentation, reason.
Your medication label doesn't match the provider's order. What is your next step?
Do not administer it; stop and clarify/verify the order.
The patient's chart lists an allergy to a medication. The provider's new order is for a drug the MA thinks may be related to that medication. The patient says, “I've probably had it before. It's fine.”
What should the MA do?
Hold the medication and clarify before administration. Don't assume an allergy is irrelevant or rely solely on the patient's reassurance when there is a potential medication-allergy concern.