[navalnurse]

Hello,

A fellow ICU nurse who was trained in another facility said that reusing IV tubing, let's say for a new bag of LR, is a no-go. If the tubing that is re-spiked with a new bag of whatever is less than 72 hours old, is this a problem? My fellow RN says it is an infection control issue and to never re-spike or reuse IV tubing even if the tube is not expired. Personally, I've been taught it is alright, provided you change it in a sterile fashion. I don't think we have a policy on this.

What say you and what says your facility??

Chris
ICU Navy Nurse in Germany

[elizabells]

We respike IVF (TPN, D10, NS...) tubing if it's running over 10cc/hr for 96 hours. Anything under that is q24. Our triple filters and medication extension tubing are also q96. This is part of a comprehensive infection control policy initiated last year, and our CLASBI rate has gone WAY down.

[koyeh]

Tubing 72 hours, TPN,propofol, ativan, and antibiotic tubing 24 hours

[parko]

Originally Posted by koyeh

Tubing 72 hours, TPN,propofol, ativan, and antibiotic tubing 24 hours

Ditto to that ^^

[nurse-lou]

I was taught that Propofol tuning should be changed every TWELVE hours due to the high lipid content which is a breeding gorund for bacteria

[parko]

Originally Posted by nurse-lou

I was taught that Propofol tuning should be changed every TWELVE hours due to the high lipid content which is a breeding gorund for bacteria

Whoops, you're right nurse-lou. Propofol = 12hrly line change. Didnt see that in the list there

[koyeh]

Our hospital propofol is 24 hours. started out every 6 hours then went to 12 hours and now 24 hours. This all came from a study someone did. Our infections rates are unchanged with the 24 hour change.

[jmgrn65]

Originally Posted by navalnurse

Hello,

A fellow ICU nurse who was trained in another facility said that reusing IV tubing, let's say for a new bag of LR, is a no-go. If the tubing that is re-spiked with a new bag of whatever is less than 72 hours old, is this a problem? My fellow RN says it is an infection control issue and to never re-spike or reuse IV tubing even if the tube is not expired. Personally, I've been taught it is alright, provided you change it in a sterile fashion. I don't think we have a policy on this.

What say you and what says your facility??

Chris
ICU Navy Nurse in Germany

If i am changing fluids I dont change the tubing unles it is close to the expiration date ours is 72 hours.

[armyicurn]

Hey Chris,

What team are you at LRMC-ICU? You should check with Maj Womble or LTC Garcia about reusing of tubbing. For the kind of pt's you guys get there, I would say just get a new one line. LRMC gets rid off so much stuff that using a new tubbing will be hardly noted. I think the ICU there has a very low to none infection control rate.

[meandragonbrett]

I tend to hang new tubing when I come on shift (as things run out). I always hang brand new tubing when my propofol runs dry.