Central Line Sterile Cap Changes

[Leo135]

I am new to oncology and am hoping to get info from nurses that do sterile cap changes with CHG swabs and TB syringes (to plug the caps during cleaning). I am still working for the same institution, but the practices from inpatient med surg to outpatient onc are very different. The policy does not include the specifics of how to properly maintain sterility and disinfect caps, and our educator left right around the time that I came on, which is why I am posting. We have all onc patients including BMT so I understand how important it is to stay sterile. I am finding that I am changing my sterile gloves several times during dressing change/cap changes, and mostly due to the the cap change steps. Any tips, videos or info is appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[NewOncNurseRN, BSN, RN]

We do not use sterile gloves or the TB syringes for sterile caps changes. We use clean gloves, and scrub the hub using a chlorhexidine wipe for 15-20 seconds before putting on the new sterile cap. Sorry this doesn’t seem to answer your question!

[DowntheRiver]

On 9/5/2019 at 8:57 AM, NewOncNurseRN said:

We do not use sterile gloves or the TB syringes for sterile caps changes. We use clean gloves, and scrub the hub using a chlorhexidine wipe for 15-20 seconds before putting on the new sterile cap. Sorry this doesn’t seem to answer your question!

Our policy is pretty much the same. We definitely do not use TB syringes! We also let the hub dry before placing the cap on. If you put the cap on after cleaning it and not letting it dry it can get stuck on there.