I am needing to know from any of you that utilize PICC securement devices as opposed to securing with suture material, what you do when patients are discharged home with home health or transferred to other facilities like long-term care. I am finding that many of these places don't stock securement devices and don't acutally know how to remove and replace them anyway. So far, I wind up sending extra equipment with the patient that I will never get reimbursed for and am never sure if it even gets used despite my attempts to educate families and get nurses in other facilities educated to their use. I feel very responsible to do everything I can to ensure that the best care is provided for the pt. even after they leave my facility with the PICC in place, but I am finding it very overwhelming attempting to provide equipment and education to all involved. Your input on how you handle this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Trish
I work for a home infusion pharmacy where we have used securement devices exclusively for several years now. We stock 2 brands, which accommodate any of the catheters we encounter in our service area (three states). We routinely remove sutures if they have been used and replace them with one of these devices for patient comfort. It seems that this is the standard of practice in our area among home infusion organizations. It's hard for me to imagine at this point, at least in home care, that this would not be the case. Long term care is another story-at least in our area.
Carol Sweeney, CRNI, Vice President of Nursing & Clinical Compliance ContinuumRx
Hallene E Utter, RN, BSN Intravenous Care, INC