How you do that?

[garciadiego]

For a portacath flush/dressing change with no sterile syringes in the central line kit, how do you draw up ns/heparin and keep sterile? Syringes are not sterile.

[IVRUS, BSN, RN]

You must have sterile syringes to drop onto your field. Now, if the saline vial isn't sterile, then perform a one handed approach to this. Don one sterile glove to grab your sterile syringe and then with your ungloved hand, pick up the saline vial and insert the sterile syringe and withdraw your amount needed.

I do know that there are some people who access ports aseptically, but that is NOT the standard of care.

[garciadiego]

Thanks IVRUS, so I draw up the saline, holding vial in non sterile hand, syringe in sterile hand, remove needle, put syringe back on sterile field? BRILLIANT! Why would any nurse deliberately do this procedure without sterile technique?

IVIRUS, do you have a answer to my question, "Another sterile question?"

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

You must have syringes that are sterile that you can drop into the field. When I worked in the hospital, we didn't have sterilely packaged saline flushes so we dropped a sterile syringe into the field and used a sterile gauze to pick up the (non-sterile) saline vial to draw up the flush. The heparin flush syringe doesn't need to be sterile, it's the last thing. Just make sure you put the dressing on BEFORE you touch the heparin.

[garciadiego]

Thanks KelRN215, could you elaborate on "...heparin flush syringe doesn't need to be sterile, ..... Just make sure you put the dressing on BEFORE you touch the heparin."

[RunBabyRN]

Thanks KelRN215, could you elaborate on "...heparin flush syringe doesn't need to be sterile, ..... Just make sure you put the dressing on BEFORE you touch the heparin."

I think what she means is that you put on the dressing before administering the hep flush, and you don't have to be sterile once the dressing is on, thus the hep syringe does not need to be sterile.