How many people still do the 24 hour dressing change? We stopped doing them because we use the reverse taper picc's and do not put guaze under the dressing. If we do need to use guaze because of bleeding issues then we do a 24 hour dressing change. We are trying to change our policies etc. and would like to know what others are doing.
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
I agree that the 24 hour dressing change may not be necessary if there is not bleeding. Also, with BioPatch placed at the time of insertion, it might not be necessary. The BioPatch is supposedly still viable for 7 days in the presence of small amount of blood.
Gwen Irwin
Austin, Texas
We went to a 48 hour initial dressing change this last year. The Chlorhexidine used to do the initial prep gives us 48 hours of protection against bacteria, and if there is any oozing, the site has more of a chance to stabilize and quiet down. At 48 hours we change the dressing and add Biopatch.
Jerry Bartholomew RN, BSN, CRNI
VA Medical Center, Spokane, WA
Jerry Bartholomew RN, MSN, CRNI
VA Medical Center, Spokane, WA
We just started applying biopatch at time of insertion (highly recommended by Dr. Jarvis) with gauze over the top for extra absorption. This gives us the flexbility to extend our 48 hour dressing change if we are too busy to get to them.
Darilyn
Darilyn Cole, RN, CRNI, VA-BC
PICC Team Mercy General Hospital Sacramento, CA
Since the average PICC line dwells 3-14 days in a hospital setting a seven day change would result in one dressing change per PICC line patient during their hospital stay
Just a thought on cost savings if there is no bleeding
Kathy Kokotis
Bard Access Systems