How to Give an Injection

Health problems may require you to give or receive shots on a daily basis, without the assistance of a health professional. It's important to know how to correctly administer an injection. A health professional will teach you how to safely and accurately prepare and give an injection. There are steps to remember as you go through the process.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Medicine
• Vials
• Sterile saline or sterile water, if necessary
• Needle, syringe and plunger unit
• Alcohol swabs
• Needle disposal container

Injection Preparation

1. Wash your hands thoroughly using soap, hot water and lots of friction created by rubbing the hands and fingers together. Wipe your hands on a clean towel until they are completely dry. You may also wear rubber gloves.
2. Gather the needed supplies.
3. Dilute the medicine in a vial according to your doctor's directions, if necessary. Mix the medicine's powder in a vial with the amount of prescribed sterile saline or sterile water. Some medicines come in a ready-to-use vial.
4. Wipe the top of the vial with an alcohol swab.
5. Uncover the needle and push it carefully through the rubber on the top of the vial.
6. Pull back the plunger until the syringe fills with the prescribed amount of medicine. You are ready to give an injection.

Injection Details

7. Let your doctor determine the location on the body to inject the medicine.
8. Clean the shot area with an alcohol swab and allow the area to dry completely.
9. Pinch the skin in the injection area with one hand. Hold the syringe in the other hand in the same way you would hold a pencil, but don't touch the plunger.
10. Insert the needle into the pinched skin at a 90-degree angle, and then release the pinched skin.
11. Dispense the medicine into the body by pushing the plunger in all the way. Take the needle out of the injection sight on the same 90-degree angle.
12. Stop bleeding at the injection site by applying pressure with gauze or a cotton ball. Don't rub the area.
13. Replace the cover over the needle after you give an injection, and place the needle and syringe unit in a safe container. Use a container that the needle can't penetrate.