Nurses pulling CTs?

while nurses at my present job don't pull chest tubes, i did at my previous job in seattle. i usually asked the family to step out, too. it can be a somewhat messy process, and i find it easier to concentrate on what i'm doing and get the job done if there's no one at my elbow asking questions. we pulled both plueral and mediastinal tubes on our cabg and valve patients. our vad patients, we left the chest tubes for the residents to pull.

In our NICU, the nurses pull chest tubes.

Christine, RNC, BSN

I work on a cardiac surgery step-down floor in Virginia. Recently, visiting my grandfather in North Carolina, his nurse asked me to step out while she pulled my grandfather's tubes. (I think I made her uncomfortable) I was surprised. I mean really, it is nothing to pull a mediastinal tube, but what about everyone else out there..what is your institutions practice? Where I work the cardiac surgery PAs pull the CTs and the epicardial wires.

Also, those of you who do pull tubes, what about pleural tubes? Thanks for your input!!