I am a student nurse who has been assigned to help with a quality improvement project. The issue is the labeling of IV lines. When it doesn't get done, the nurse coming on usually replaces the line to be safe. This causes unnecessary changing of lines. I need to come up with a presentation that will encourage labeling of lines to that safety will be assured, but costs will be maintained. The issue of suction cannisters came up as well. How often should they be changed out? I appreciate any ideas you can share with me.
Your hospital must have a written policy and procedure about labeling these IV lines. Do you want the label to state the date it was started or the date it is to be taken down? This must be consistently done. There are stickers available for purchase for this purpose and I have seen hospitals place these stickers in the patient rooms so they are convenient to the nurse. This policy, in my opinion, should also address the practice of tubing change frequency, when (if at all) it is appropriate to open these lines for a continuous infusion, and how to properly clean all injection sites on the set. Following the policy approval, there must be training about this policy. Then there must be a QI project to assess compliance with this policy - the old plan, do, check, act process. Good luck, Lynn
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