Labeling IV lines

[moonshadeau]

I am curious as to what is the practice at other hospitals regarding IV tubing labeling of the drug in the line. Our critical care areas label the name of the drug in the tubing at the distal end.

Do you practice this as well? Do you have a policy in place or know of reference material that supports this practice? Other thoughts?

Thanks,

Moonshadeau:no:

[BertRN07]

We label our lines at the port closest to patient & also we label our maintenance line @ every port with this awesome pink top so it's easily spotted!

[suepozitory]

:nurse:I am currently working on a project to try and bring into policy the labeling of IV lines (distal and proximal). It is in conjunction with a regional project on managing "hi alert" medications and solutions. We are finally getting "smartpumps" in Canada!!!:wink2: I am looking for any ideas/journals/literature that may be out there that can support this practice. I too am a critical care nurse who always follows/labels my line when I first come on shift. No policy in place, but I certainly think it is good practice.

Any ideas as to where I too can find literature to support this practice?

:bow:nurses rule:up:

[ICU_nurse]

Our unit has no policy regarding the labelling of IV lines at the distal end (only infusion end, Must have the bright orange IV additive label on it). But it is common practice for nurses to do it. I like it, I feel somewhat "organised" when Its done.

Of course it doesnt replace tracing your lines anyway (i trace to see what Im infusing where, and to also check patency and that the connections are all secure) which i do as part of my initial assessment.

parko

[NoviceToExpert]

I'm with Janfrn on this one... Is your management gonna be at the bedside during a code with 20 gtts to trace back your line so you can push in the right port? Probably not... I need to have fast access at the distal end to know what is where fast... BUT I always always always check to pt to the pump's electronic label to the bag... And make sure everything is labeled correctly as soon as I start my shift... I got in report my patient was refractory to the insulin drip on Algorithm #4... labeled insulin on the distal port... labeled insulin on the pump channel... but, alas, what was coming from the bag was, behold, the amiodarone bolus (with, of course, no filter)...I wonder if they blew in the insulin as the amiodarone bolus... can you imagine?! Insulin (the amiodarone by mistake) was hung in the OR... then came to the unit... I was the third nurse to take the patient since his CABG and the only one to catch it...

I will always label my lines...

[piperterri]

How about using colored IV tubing? Seems to make sense to keep our lines differentiated.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

All lines are labeled with different colored stickers that have the drug name printed on them. We label the pump, and again on the line right before the connector to the PICC, AL, Broviac, IV, etc. All lines are traced during report.

[NtannRN]

We don't have a protocol. We don't even have fancy stickers for the tubing. But, it's good practice for all involved to label the lines. Protocol is all our lines have to be dated. When I get a patient with a ton of iv's labeled or not i check where everything is going, esp. to the right pump. We just use good 'ol regular medical tape and label at the distal end. All our pumps have the guardian but it's not very big so sometimes we tape the top handle with the drug name. Labeling is very important but not as important as tracing your lines back at the beginning of every shift.You can't be too careful.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

thanks to all. there has been much discussion at our hospital that this practice will no longer be allowed. there is fear that by labeling lines, nurses will not take the time to trace their lines back. i believe that labeling lines is a safety issue in the critical care setting, but it has been a really tough sell.

big mistake! what happens if the patient crashes while the nurse is at lunch? i don't always take the time to trace all eight drips mary sue's patient has running each time i relieve her for a smoke break. at times, i'm watching four or five patients -- because all the smokers like to wander outside together. so the patient needs an emergency drug iv push, and i don't know which one of four central lines has the carrier, which has the magnesium running, which one is the argatroban drip and which one i can use for drugs . . . bad news!

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I'm totally with Ruby Vee. One of the only questions I ask when covering for somebody else is, "Where's your push port?"

We used to have colour-coded pressure lines, red for arterial, blue for central venous and yellow for intracardiac; they disappeared when our hospital system changed suppliers (to save $$) so now they're manually labelled at the pump, at the transducer and at the connection to the manifold. The lines come with little preprinted labels we can use but most people throw them away. We also have a handful of preprinted labels (epi, norepi, morphine, fentanyl, ketamine) but very few people use them. Mostly they cut little strips off an orange medication label and write in what's running then attach the strip to the tubing. Not perfect but better than nothing. We have green expiry labels that are required on the tubing near the bag or syringe as well.