new policies

[pooperscooperrn0624]

hey guys, need help writing new policies. do you have a policy on how often to change suction canisters or admission of infant of hiv mom? also looking for standard policies and procedure manuals. have you seen any online?

thanks

[Zippedodah]

We don't have a policy for either of those. We change out canisters when they get yukky. For an admission of HIV...no different than any other admission.

We use Lippencott as our basis for procedures.

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

We change out the liner and tubing of the suction canister Q24H on night shift. We're supposed to do ALL of them, but we just do the ones where we are actually using the suction. If it's a grower-feeder who has a clean suction set-up and hasn't needed it, then there is no need to change it daily.

For infants with HIV positive moms, we'll just use universal precautions like we're supposed to with everybody. People tend to be a bit more careful and paranoid with those babies, of course, but we don't use any isolation or anything like that. The docs have the mom sign a consent to treat with ziduvidine and we'll start that ASAP after admission.

[Zippedodah]

Gompers, why do you have to have permissions to start meds? Isn't that covered under your blanket admission consent or even if the mom has been treated while being pregnant?

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

Gompers, why do you have to have permissions to start meds? Isn't that covered under your blanket admission consent or even if the mom has been treated while being pregnant?

AZT treatment is part of our admission consent forms - it's just that we don't have every parent sign this portion, only those where the mother has HIV. We started doing it that way awhile back before it was really approved for newborns, I think, so it was almost like signing off on an experimental drug. We just kept it on the consents separate for some reason. Regular meds are covered under a different part of the consent - the more general "consent for treatment" portion.

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

I'm not sure on the policy for admission of an infant with a HIV positive mom ..... as I haven't encountered that yet.

Suction canisters are changed Q24, and we do that on night shift. We change all the tubing, the canister, and the ballard (if they're vented). If we don't open the tubing and therefore don't use it or the canister then we don't change it ..... but otherwise the ones that are used are changed every night.

[BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN]

Canisters get changed weekly (if we remember), tubing daily if used.

HIV...no difference, if the mom was treated antenatally, then we cont, if not the fellow talks to mom and then we start it. If the mom refuses, we get a court order.