Got into a discussion about this the other day. It has never been my facility's practice to return the "waste" blood aspirated before blood sampling from central line,but I know there are places that do this.I can find no specific standards for this--are there? My gut instinct says that once a syringe has been filled with the waste blood and disconnected from the catheter or line,it shouldn't be reconnected for any reason. However I can maybe accept return of the blood through a closed system set-up.
Your thoughts?
You are absolutely correct. Return of waste blood from a syringe that has been disconnected and set aside during the remainder of the procedure is dangerous. Studies have shown that you are returning clots. A literature search will show a review article by Ann Marie Frey in JIN in 2003. Sorry but I could not copy from my database and paste into this message. Lynn
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
Thanks Lynn--I have that article and have looked into a few of those referenced in it. Was wondering if there was anything more I hadn't found.
D