Repeated blood draws in NBs

[MercyAngels]

Hello, everyone! I am interested in knowing the policies of other hospitals, birthing ctrs, etc, re: routine labs for babies. Where I work we're required to do CBG's on all infants, hct, and serum glucoses pending the results of the CBG's, and often q12 bili's...and then the PKU!!! IMO, this is a lot of lab work, that usually is not needed except for the PKU. If the hct's abnl, it's either repeated, or we just "watch" it. Any ideas? suggestions? policies elsewhere? Thanks for the input!

[Caseyrnbsn]

At our institution the only required blood work is the PKU unless otherwise ordered by th neonates doctor for a specific reason. We now donot use neonates heels for blood work. we use the hand with a 25 gauge needle without the syringe part. Excellent results. They bruise but most sleep through the procedure and we get good venous specimens without clotting most of the time. We still use the heel if we have depleted venous access and usiing the hand keeps IV skills up. I hope this helps.

Karen

[10cm]

Obviously your hospital has not been infected by the cost containment bug.

[Gramanurse]

Where I work most labs are done at a specific time. Usually at five a.m. If you need a lot of labs we use a 25 gauge catheter. Use a 3cc or 1cc syringe to collect specimen . Drop in tubes.

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Y.G.L.