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annettld
waste of initial draw for central line blood culture

I would like to revisit the question of wasting the initial draw from a central line that is suspected for potential line infection or CRBSI.  INS P/P manual states NOT to waste the initial draw, and a few physicians at my facility believe the initial draw SHOULD be wasted.  Presuming any needleless connector has been removed prior to the draw(is it correct to presume this?), how are other facilities handling this?

Thanks,

Annette RN

St. Louis Children's Hospital Vascular Access Service

lynncrni
 See reference # 7, page S69

 See reference # 7, page S69 in the Standard 49 Infection. This is a set of laboratory guidelines stating to not draw a discard and the source of the INS standard statement. Lynn

Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN,  CRNI

Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.

PO Box 10

Milner, GA 30257

Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com

Office Phone 770-358-7861

Kevertsz
Blood Cultures

At our facility, we do not waste the initial draw from the PICC if we are drawing specifically for blood cultures.  The access cap is removed, the hub is scrub, then 20ml are drawn for culture (no waste).  However if we are drawing for labs other than cultures, we waste 5ml before collecting our specimen.

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