What is everyone doing with regard to IV extension tubing? Is it a required when starting all peripheral lines? Is it considered standard practice to use them to prevent catheter irritation and uneccessary risk of contamination? Also, what do you do when a patient has to go to CT scan and the extension tubing is not power rated?
In my opinion, there are far too many benefits from placing a short extension set on all PIVs, making it unreasonable to not use them. I have always practiced this way and now teach this way. You separate the nurses hands from the source of the blood and provide a clamp to stop the backflow of blood. It makes it so much easier to change tubing such as going from a continuous infusion to a capped or locked catheter. It greatly reduces the amount of manipulation of the catheter which leads to phlebitis and infiltration.
You do bring up a good point about being able to tolerate the pressure in a CT scan, but I am sure there are products available with this rating.
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, BC, CRNI
www.hadawayassociates.com
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, NPD-BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861
There are definitely products out there with that rating. Recently when our whole facility switched from baxter to cardinal with the alaris pumps and alaris tubing I made sure that ALL our products were CT compatible. We wnet to a doble lumen extension that is CT compatible. This is just one example, I'm sure there are others.
I definitely agree with Lynn that an extension is best. Now that power injection has become so widely used, most companies distributing tubings have realized they have to have pressure rated extensions in their product line. Unfortunately most facilities go through burst tubings in CT before they realize they have the wrong extensions. I would urge anyone in facilities that do power injection for CTs or are planning to in the future to be proactive and work with your CT department and the company providing your tubings to be sure you have the correct and safe equipment.
Julie Shomo BS, BSN, RN, CRNI
Infusion Solution LLC
Julie Shomo BS, BSN, RN, CRNI
Infusion Solution LLC