Nurse….my IV hurts!!

You just started a PIV in the patient’s right arm and soon after, the patient complained of sharp pain and ask that the PIV be removed. What would you do? Leave PIV in and tell patient,of course it will hurt, I just stuck you with a needle Assess the IV site and if no redness…

Do you scrub or wipe???

Scrub….don’t wipe!!! According to the 2011 CDC guidelines section on “needleless intravascular catheter systems” statement #4 : “Minimize contamination risk by scrubbing the access port with an appropriate antiseptic (chlorhexidine, povidone iodine, an iodophor, or 70% alcohol) and accessing the port only with sterile devices. Category 1A”  This is an update to their 2002 guidelines…

Do you flush and lock….

…those vascular access devices?  Of course… all nurses who care for vascular access devices (VAD) should, right?? …. but do they ” flush and lock” or ” flush” only thinking that flushing is enough to keep the VAD patent? The 2011 Infusion Nursing  standards of practice makes this distinction…. “Flushing” – the act of moving…