Arterial sticks and analysis

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Who draws and analyzes the blood gases in your unit? Are you allowed to do arterial sticks?

Specializes in CVICU.

I work in a CVICU and we (the RN's) do the arterial sticks. We also interpret the results and call the MD if necessary. RT's, as far as I am aware or have seen, do not call the doctors regarding the results, though they can see them as well. We cannot make vent changes without a physician's order. Whether the nurse can make the changes or not depends on the RT. Some are touchy and want you to simply tell them what the doctor wants changed. Others don't care if you make the changes on the machine.

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Specializes in Critical care.

RT or MDs do them here and RT runs the analysis; we all pour over the results and wonder why our ph of 6.9 pt wasn't intubated long before...

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
I guess I should have been more clear about the analysis part. I meant do you have your own iSTAT or other POC machine to analyze the blood or do you send it to lab?

We have an iSTAT, but usually only use it for codes or if the pt is on ECMO. Otherwise we send to the lab.

RNs draw most of them on my unit. Anywhere else I've worked, the RRT does it.

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Just saw your mention of this thread on another thread where we both participated and thought I'd drop by and share, lol.

OK, so, for where I trained, all of my clinical sites and the 3 subsequent hospitals in which I worked in that area, the RTs (and MDs) were responsible for arterial sticks and RTs also drew from art lines. The RTs maintained their own blood gas labs and analyzed (with a blood gas analyzer) any samples that they drew. Of course, everyone involved in the care of the patient requiring an ABG would "analyze," meaning interpret, the results.

For the area of the country in which I now live, it has varied by facility. In one, it was the same as the ones I just mentioned. Where I currently work, RTs do arterial sticks but do not draw from art lines and all samples are sent to the hospital lab for analysis. Some RNs at this facility also do arterial sticks if they have passed a competency.

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I work in a unit where both RNs and RTs do ABG sticks. It's helpful during a code or RRT when a MD needs it and resp may be tied up bagging or doing compressions...

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Specializes in ICU.

Respiratory

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