Flushes after IV therapy

[NICURN04]

Hey guys, I really need your advice on flushes after IV therapy. I just passed my Boards about 3 weeks ago and pass the medication test that is require for all new RN's at the hospital. This is the first week that I'm giving meds and I'm having such a hard time as to how many cc of flush I should use to flush after each meds. I have 3 preceptors and they all have a different approach of calculating the amount of cc. I have had babies with various lines (PICC, CVL, Broviac, peripheral IV, ect) and according to one of my preceptor, each line can only take so many cc's of flushes...I'm dead on confused! Is there an easier way to learn this stuff??

[SteveNNP, MSN, NP]

The best way is to ask for your unit's policy and procedure guidelines for central and peripheral line care. The policies should spell it out for each type of line, and you'll be protecting yourself legally by doing it by the "book."

[Love_2_Learn]

I agree with SteveRN21 about following your hospital policy. Your hospital should have a policy that reflects this part of patient care.

Your question is a very important one, especially when dealing with the low birth weight and very low birth weight babies & especially during their first few days of life when their bodies are so vulnerable to IV fluid amounts. Also, studies show that too much fluid can be one of the things that makes PDA symptoms worse or makes the PDA harder to close especially during the first week of life.

When trying to figure out how much flush it takes to go from the beginning to the end of any type of catheter or tubing you will find that generally the packaging tells you exactly how much it takes. If the medication tubing package says it takes 0.2 ml and the UVC line package says it takes 0.4 ml then you will know that it will take 0.6 ml of flush to flush from the syringe end of the tubing to the tip end of the UVC inside the baby. You can go to your supply area to find the tubing, catheters, etc that your patient is using if you are not sure.

I hope this helps. Keep asking questions too, it's always best to completely understand what you are doing. Kudos to you for wanting to understand!

[NICURN04]

Thanks guys! =)

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

I agree, check out the P&P for the unit and go from there.

On our unit, it's pretty much nurse discretion. I have flushed through our medlines and know that it takes about 0.6 ccs to prime the line. If it's a bigger kid then I flush with about 1 cc. If it's a micro ...... then I use the minimum amount, just enough to get the med through. Also, remember that with the micros, it's important to add the med+flush on the I&O calculations.

Good luck to you!