Port a Cath ?'s

[ilovenursing2009]

I am doing a home infusion tomorrow where the client has a port a cath. I have done port a caths in the past....I always check for blood return.

Apparently the case I am going on tomorrow uses 50ml bags to flush. That is no problem, but how do I check for blood return. I can't! I called my boss and she said it is not needed to check for blood return. But, isn't it? I thought that was a must with port a caths.

The policy and procedures are a little fuzzy with this company I work for. There is no p/p book for me to refer to and everytime I ask to get it printed off they always seem to forget. It is really driving me nuts.

Thanks for you help!

[fungez]

Um, well... won't you be accessing with your huber needle attached to a ns filled syringe?

[ilovenursing2009]

Exactly! That is what I said!!! I think my boss hooked it up to the 50ml bag!

[netglow, ASN, RN]

LMAO... (not really) but I was wondering what the heck did I not know! I was waiting to see what somebody else posted :)

[Abbygirl09]

every time I access a port-a-cath I check for a blood return prior to infusing a med. It's needed to verify placement. Although I work in an inpatient setting rather than homecare...I'm not sure if there are differences?

[mappers]

Does the bag have a Y-site? When we infuse chemo, IV push, we usually have a free flowing bag of NS and push the chemo through a Y site. We check for blood return every 2-3 minutes of the push.