Confused -please help

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What does it mean to "lock" a device with heparin?

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Anyone :(

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Specializes in Oncology.

You instill just enough heparin to fill the lumen and clamp it. In theory, this prevents clots from forming in the lumen. When you go back and use the line again, best practice is to withdraw the heparin and waste it instead of flushing it into the patient (at least for adults - children are different).

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Specializes in MICU.

And also It is used to keep an iV site open for future use because nobody likes to be poked everytime a nurse needs an IV site. Since heparin is anticoagulant, it helps to keep the iv site from clotting. Lastly, please always check for infection or swelling due to the vein being exposed

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Specializes in MICU.

I dont know how long to keep an iv site with heparin lock to prevent infection. Anybody?. Nursing school starts on Wednesday! !

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Kristi,

This site is not meant for "instant answers" or "instant gratification". If you need an answer on a question NOW, might I suggest you use the search feature on this site (this question has been asked several times in the past), or google instead.

Looking at your question here you asked "anyone?" approx. 15 minutes after posting your question, and got an answer to your question less than 30 minutes after first asking your question. Many sites don't have the traffic that AN has, and your question could take hours to DAYS to answer. Please give posters here a chance to answer you before you make it sound like you are being ignored.

Also, to the previous poster who answered the OP...the Infusion Nurses Society (INS) does not state that it is "best practice" to withdraw the small amount of Heparin that is in the lumen when you hep lock an IV/PICC/Port. The amount of heparin you infuse in a 100u/mL flush would not be sufficient to thin the blood enough to put a patient into DIC. The only time it would really matter is in a really small child you *might* need to withdraw and waste the heparin. An infusion nurse could probably provide the exact recommendations on this.

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loveofrn,

No need to worry about this before you start nursing school. You will be taught all of this in class/clinical. To answer your question though, a peripheral IV typically needs to be changed every 3 days and should be flushed with saline at LEAST once a shift to keep it patent (open). An IV should be changed sooner if the site becomes painful, red, swollen, is leaking blood or IVF or is no longer able to be flushed.

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Wheeliesurfer,

Sorry, thus is my first time using AN. I am aware of Google and all the other search engines. What you do not know and I should have explained is that I did use the search engine to find a good explanation. However, the search engine explains what a heparin lock is but I wasn't sure if that was the same as "locking with heparin". I came across this wording hole reading my textbook and was confused at the wording- to "lock with heparin".

Thanks to everyone that took time to help me. I didn't want to keep reading until I understood what it meant. I posted a second time just to make sure the post went through. I was not looking for instant gratification. But I respect your opinion.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses

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Specializes in Oncology.
Kristi,

This site is not meant for "instant answers" or "instant gratification". If you need an answer on a question NOW, might I suggest you use the search feature on this site (this question has been asked several times in the past), or google instead.

Looking at your question here you asked "anyone?" approx. 15 minutes after posting your question, and got an answer to your question less than 30 minutes after first asking your question. Many sites don't have the traffic that AN has, and your question could take hours to DAYS to answer. Please give posters here a chance to answer you before you make it sound like you are being ignored.

Also, to the previous poster who answered the OP...the Infusion Nurses Society (INS) does not state that it is "best practice" to withdraw the small amount of Heparin that is in the lumen when you hep lock an IV/PICC/Port. The amount of heparin you infuse in a 100u/mL flush would not be sufficient to thin the blood enough to put a patient into DIC. The only time it would really matter is in a really small child you *might* need to withdraw and waste the heparin. An infusion nurse could probably provide the exact recommendations on this.

You're right, and I agree. I work with a lot of large bore catheters where we flush heparin 1000 units/ml or even 5000 units/ml, so I guess I automatically thought of that. But I agree, with the small amount of heparin used for PICC's and PIV's, no, it wouldn't matter. I do work infusion, but I have the OCN certification, not the infusion nurses one. Thanks!

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