PICC Line care + flushing

[grandolecat]

thank you, I am new at allnurses; so far soooo great. Does anyone out there be able to refresh me on picc lines+blood withdrawal? It has been a while and I don't want to botch it of course for the patients' sake. Thanks grandolecat PS have been looking everywhere for a good Oasis site to learn. This one should be good. again thank you

[jl_nurse]

Hi there, and Picc lines, oh I just love them and central lines and ports. Procedure as I was taught, flush your red line with Ns 5 ml, then aspirate 5-10 mls then discard. then draw 10 ml syringe or can be 5ml depending on how many tubes you need and what labs are ordered. then flush with normal saline 10 ml. if heplocked, flush with 500 units/5 ml after ns and lock. transfer blood into tubes using 20g needle or larger and you are good!!! Hope that helps. Take care and happy new year!

[jnette, ASN, EMT-I]

for the last two posts above, please refer to https://allnurses.com/forums/f27/withdrawal-blood-piccs-232353.html. :)

Thank you !

[sherrytzu]

I have my clinical book that I use to refresh my skills and also help the LVN's who work with me if they have questions about how to perform a skill. I have had to draw blood from a picc line and had to refresh on proper procedure. The patient had all of the supplies needed, so I flushed with saline, removed 10cc's blood, discarded, and redrew 10 cc's and flushed with saline, and then heparin and closed the clamps. YOu then transfer the blood into the proper tubes needed for testing. I syringe is all I needed. The first syringe you discard because it is contaminated with saline, heparin or whatever they are receiving through the line. Hope this helps, but the clinical manual is the best way to go as it explains everything step by step.