Discontinuing central-lines

suzanne4, RN · Apr 8, 2005

Depends on the state that you are in, and what your facilities' policy is. It is quite easy to get a clot in that area. Most facilities will require special certification and a check off for the nurse. Usual thought is if it needs to be placed in the OR, then it should not be removed my the nurse.

I would not like to see a nurse on a med-surg floor pulling femoral lines.

A cath lab is a completely different picture. Also depends on the type of line that you are talking about. There is a wide variety available.

So not sure what type of unit that you are speaking about. Can you be more specific?

zacarias, ASN, RN · Apr 9, 2005

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Hi. I'm new at your forum, and I would like to know for what reason would a nurse not be able to D/C a central-line at the femoral site? Any information would be appreciated.

Adding to suzanne's comments, pulling a sheath from a femoral line takes dedicated 1 on 1 time with the pt. The nurse has to be ready to give drugs in case the pt's HR plummets for example. Also the nurse has to be in the room monitoring the pt for at least a half-hour and then still very frequently after that. If you have a normal load on the floor, this instantly becomes a very unsafe situation.

On our tele-stepdown unit, people's lines are usually pulled in the cath lab before they arrive. However, if we do have patients with a-lines, we can call in this guy (who normally works in the cath lab as a CV tech), and he will come in and pull it. Very rarely experienced nurses might do it if no one is available, but I think that should be done away with.