We have a physician that is asking if a patient's mother can administer Cathflo in the home on a pediatric patient instead of going to outpatient clinic or waiting for our home care nurse to come and administer it. If it is our protocol for it to be administered by a nurse (which it is) then the physician is asking for studies siting the use of said protocol. Has anyone got information about letting a patient/family member use Cathflo in the home? Do such studies exist? Thank you for your information regarding this topic in advance.
Disclaimer - I am not a home care nurse! But I have never seen any studies of family members performing this procedure anywhere. This is more than simple drug administration. It is a treatment procedure involving a drug that requires the knowledge and skill of a nurse to correctly assess the need for it, administer correctly, allow for long enough dwell, and properly assess the results. Hope some home care nurses respond if they are allowing families to do this. The exception might be a patient on PN for the remainder of their life who is extremely well versed in the care of their CVAD. But for the average patient at home on 6-8 weeks of ABX, my answer would be no.
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 have been an IV nurse for 34 of my 40 years or practicing. I have been working on an IV team as well as working for a well known home infusion company. We would never allow that if it is being used to restore patency for all the reasons Lynn stated. The type of CVAD would need to be evaluated to rule out occlusion caused by a drug or mineral precipitate, a mechanical issue or other issue. Then once an assessment has been completed and a dose of Cath-flo is appopriate it must be administered correctly. If not done correctly, many problems can arise. One I have seen quite a bit is catheter fracture. Years ago when Urokinase was still on the market I did have two pediatic patients (brothers) that were on long term TNA (TPN back then) and we allowed the parents to instill Urokinase weekly as we were really struggling with maintaining patency.