Clarepaedoncuk

My advice is stabilise the port with your non dominant hand. And aim dead centre of the middle of the port and push hard, you will feel it "give". Usually there are scars where the port has been accessed in the past. Aim for those too. But stabilisation is key to accessing a port first time

Hi I work in the UK and I am at a large principle treatment centre. It is an inpatient unit with a high dependency area for BMT patients. To give chemo we wear goggles, armlets, single gloves and an apron. This practice is pretty standard in the UK.

Hi I work in the UK and our ports seem a little different to yours. However I have had it often when removing needles from my paediatric patients that it sticks. Sometimes it's when you aren't holding the port when you are pulling the needle out which you must always do to avoid damage to the skin. Secondly the needle itself can become bent inside the port making it difficult to pull out. You will only know if it is damaged if there is any irritation or swelling to the site which isn't normal for that patient and secondly if when it is next accessed the needle won't go in to the port correctly or will not flush and bleed back. In this case a chest X-ray will identify a problem with the device.