Mel RN

My first question would be to you, do you both charge at the same time? We never have two charge nurses charging on the same day, it just doesn't work. Who is held accountable if something happens in the unit, you or her? In my experience, my charge nurses would take turns charging on a weekly basis. The "paperwork" would still be divided, but during treatment there should only be one person in charge at a time. Just an opinion. Thanks

Frequency of dressing changes will depend upon the type of catheter. A temporary subclavian cath should be changed more frequently with sterile supplies. An IJ cath that is at least 3-4 weeks old can be left open to air. You can get specific guidelines by the surgeon that places your catheters. You will probably get many different responses to your question. We use betadine swabs, sterile 2x2 and a tegaderm for our sterile dressings which are changed every treatment!