I keep seeing nurses not scrub the hub, and it makes me mad

[Bruce_Wayne, ASN, RN]

I keep seeing nurses at a local hospital not scrub IV ports before putting medications in or restarting iv tubing. It really upsets me and I try to keep alcohol pads in my pocket and pass them to the nurse before she/he uses a port. And that's been working but it seems like they should be doing it on their own.

Where I work, I always see the nurses scrubbing IV ports. It's habit not a chore. The hospital I'm doing clinicals at has a pretty bad reputation especially related to post-op infections. I started keeping track one day and not once did a nurse scrub a hub without me "helping" ie prompting them to do so. I really wish they'd start doing things right.

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

You will see scary things like this all the time. The best thing you can do is to keep doing what you are doing which is to hand them the alcohol swabs before they attempt to give a med. Some people need a gentle reminder. You may also say something to the unit nurse manager if you don't feel comfortable confronting the nurse about it. Just my two cents !

[AgentBeast, MSN, RN]

Sometimes an anonymous letter or email to the hospital educator does the trick.