cardiac cath lab question re sheath/wires/catheters

[froggy8, BSN, RN]

Hi All! I am new to cardiac cath and have a question regarding the order of things during a procedure. Correct me if I am wrong: First a sheath goes in, then a wire is inserted as a guide for the catheter. Then the physician can place a balloon or stent?? Is that the right order of things during a cardiac catheterization?

Thank you very much everyone! Appreciate any other advice for a new cardiac cath RN, especially anything online (preferably free) that I could study up on.

Stay Safe Everyone.

[CardiacStepdownRN]

Diagnostic process: Access needle, (short comes with sheath) wire, remove needle, sheath inserted over wire, wire removed.  J wire insert with diagnostic catheter, remove j wire.

Intervention: insert j wire, remove diagnostic catheter, insert intervention catheter over j wire, remove j wire, use accessory kit with intervention wire, stent/balloon goes in over the intervention wire