broviac, who change the dressing?

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jun 15, 2005

Once a week. Whoever has that patient for the day shift it is dated to be changed changes it. :)

opps....sorry I just noticed this was the NICU site. Sorry.

kaibigan · Jun 15, 2005

:rotfl: sorry about the post, wrong sent comment. this should be on another thread.

kaibigan · Jun 15, 2005

thanks tweety

Gompers, BSN, RN · Jun 15, 2005

We change the dressing when it looks like it needs changing - I've never seen a Broviac dressing last more than a few days, so it's about 2 times a week for those. For PCVC or PICC lines, it's PRN, and those dressings seem to last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the baby's size and condition. If it's a broviac, any RN can do the dressing. If it's a PCVC or PICC, we have a list of nurses who have been trained to change those dressings.

Brownbetty · Jun 16, 2005

For Central lines (surgically placed) we (RN's) change them q Monday and if it gets soiled. For PICC lines, the NNP or MD changes that dressing if it gets soiled. Yes we do have a policy for CL dressing changes.

BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN · Jun 16, 2005

Right now, every 3 days, but I believe the lastest research shows every 7 days is fine. Nurses change those dressings. PICC, only a hand full of us do so.

Finallyat40 · Jun 16, 2005

We change them q 7days or if they're soiled or pulling up and we always use a biopatch. PICC dressing changes are done solely by the NNP's on our unit.

Jamie

JenKatt · Jun 16, 2005

Since we're a dedicated children's hospital we have a lot more resources I think. Our broviac dressings are changed by our hospital IV team q7 days or PRN at the bedside nurses request. Our PICC and midline dsgs are changed by our unit PICC/ midline nurses who also place them. Any of us can reinforce the dressings as needed. Our assessment sheets require us to chart the status of the dressing q12 hours and the date it was last changed.

Gompers, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2005

We change them q 7days or if they're soiled or pulling up and we always use a biopatch.

I wished we used biopatches!!! I hear great things about them. Every kid we've ever had with a Broviac ends up having it get infected, whether it's in the NICU or shortly after discharge home. Usually the source of infection is at the insertion site. WHY we aren't investigating things like biopatches is beyond me...

Finallyat40 · Jun 16, 2005

I wished we used biopatches!!! I hear great things about them. Every kid we've ever had with a Broviac ends up having it get infected, whether it's in the NICU or shortly after discharge home. Usually the source of infection is at the insertion site. WHY we aren't investigating things like biopatches is beyond me...

they are quite costly though, about $5 each from what I hear, so many institutions are slow to start using them. However, just one day of antibiotics will cost more than that in my opinion. I'm surprised we get the privilege of using them, seeing as we're a county facility and always seem to be the last to get something.

Jamie

sparkyRN · Jun 17, 2005

The nurse changes the broviac dressing every 48 hours in our unit. We use a dressing change kit--clean with betadine, then alcohol after the betadine dries, a very small amount of benzoine if the baby's skin is mature enough and then a new tegaderm dsg. Generally 2 nurses do it. Both wear mask and sterile gloves. One is the "dirty" nurse and takes off the old dsg. The other is the sterile one. Our infection rate is pretty low.