Our hospital is currently contemplating changing our dwell time on our PIV's from 72hours to 96hours. Our hospital policy states that continuous IV tubing gets changed q72hours. If we change our dwell time on our peripheral IV's to 96 hours, is it safe to change our continous IV tubing to the 96hour time frame too?
Yes, change of both the PIV and tubing should be at the same time. Both INS and CDC state to change continuous tubing "no more frequently than 72 hours." So extending continuous tubing to 96 hours is acceptable. I would caution you, however, that there are no studies that have ever assessed the level of contamination on tubing used intermittently. INS states intermittent tubing should be changed every 24 hours, which is the original limit on using tubing. Because of a lack of data and the very high potential for contamination of tubing used intermittently, INS has chosen to make this recommendation for change at 24 hours. CDC does not make a distinction between continuous and intermittent tubing, however they do state that all catheters should be accessed with a sterile device. I do not believe that the male luer tip of any tubing can be considered sterile for long periods of use such as 72 or 96 hours. Lynn Hadaway
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