art lines

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Specializes in PCCN.

If you have a patient with an art line ,or even 2 pts with an art line, how many total pts should you have in your assignment? Assignment might include angioplasties, pacers ,some drips, Tavrs, and general medical.?

(art line is not for b/p purposes (although we are monitoring their b/p with them while they are in), theyre post intervention but cant be pulled yet.)

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Specializes in PCCN.

wow, no one? hmmm

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Specializes in Critical Care, Capacity/Bed Management.

Are you in stepdown?

I work in ICU and standard ratio is 1 RN to 2 patients, with that being said I love having a patient with an arterial line. Monitoring is pretty easy, you zero every 4 hours and as needed, A-lines make obtaining a reliable, accurate and up to minute blood pressure great. Also, obtaining labs/ABG's is not an issue.

At my facility arterial lines are relegated to the ICU, OR and PACU, if our patients go to stepdown the A-lines must come out. I think it becomes a safety issue having a patient with an arterial line on stepdown where ratios are higher, can you imagine that coming out accidentally....

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Specializes in Critical Care.

At every place I've worked any arterial access is staffed as not more than 1:2. Patients with post-procedure sheaths either go to a dedicated recovery area (ie cath lab recovery), the ICU, or they sometimes go to their post-sheath-pull floor with the sheath still in but with either a modified assignment to make them 1:1 or 1:2, or a dedicated nurse is with them until the sheath is pulled.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.

Well, at my work, the Stepdown unit should have a 1:3 ratio...should...

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Specializes in PCCN.

oh ok, thats what I thought. We used to be 1:3 if art lines,1:4 if not( maybe already pulled)

They are making us do 1:5now.:(

In the past Ive had an confused elderly pt get up with art line in place because no one could get there in time( he should have been a !;! onservation,but we didnt have anyone. Good thing that was stitched in.

My coworker just told me she had a pt pop a groin and bleed all over, but she was with her other pts.

Oh well.

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