Stripping an IV?

danissa, LPN, LVN · Dec 4, 2007

when we strip an IV, its to take off the dressing back to the insertion site, to get a better look at the site. Maybe others mean something else by it, dont know. :uhoh3:

CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2007

We 'stripped' our IV's with the time down the side with the expectant time to run out at the bottom.

Now I believe this has to do with placing a label on the side of the IV pump to help keep track of the time needed for a specific infusion. I am uncertain of the term strip to mean the removal of dressing at an IV site.

What does Stripping an IV mean? I just read this in another thread, and have never heard the phrase before.

A lot of times I end up having to strip an IV of its dressing in order to redo the IV tubing which is connected directly to the IV catheter hub and add a J loop device.

ED. or cath lab will commonly just place the IV tubing directly to the catheter hub.

That may be fine and dandy for ED. but not at all satisfactory for the floors! I just think this policy is just plain laziness; besides, they have the equipment in ED!

lpnstudentin2010, LPN · Dec 4, 2007

i always immagined it as being the same as stripping a jp drain tubing. aka getting all of the fluid to the end it is supposed to go to by forcing it through by squeezing. but then i am not a nurses, it was just my understanding.

danissa, LPN, LVN · Dec 4, 2007

then thats flushing it. What DO others mean by stripping it? Its an interesting thread.

abooker · Dec 4, 2007

Back in '84 I worked at a plasma donation center, where everything was hung by gravity. I think stripping line is a little bit like stripping wire for an electronics project.

If the donor's IV site for giving or receiving blood wasn't infiltrated but wasn't working, we'd strip the IV line.

We'd take the blood bag (if person was giving blood) or the bag of saline (if person was receiving their own cells back again) and put in on the donor's lap or on the floor.

Then, we'd hold the tubing closest to the person's arm with a non-dominant hand, and squeeze the tubing a couple of inches closer to the bag firmly between the dominant thumb and the flat part of the blade of a closed pair of scissors.

While squeezing the tubing flat, we'd losen our grip sligthly, and slowly slide our dominant hand closer to the bag. The other hand held the line secure to keep the needle from getting pulled out. Usually, we'd do this a couple of times, and the IV site would start working again. If not, we'd go get the nurse.

I think the idea was to create a vacuum that might pull a clot into the bag that might otherwise block up that little hole in the needle.

cmo421 · Dec 4, 2007

Kinda like milking a cow,,,lol. Kidding. This is not acceptable practice anymore,although still done. When an IV was sluggish,we would pinch the tubing and "milk" down towards the site. It was commonly done. Not really a good idea with small clot release and such. "Flushing" a sluggish IV is safer if done with a nonmedicated solution, in small amounts. Check with ur IV team and see what is accepted practice in ur institution. I am betting it is none of the above. When in doubt, pull it out!

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Dec 4, 2007

abooker,

When I worked in donor pheresis, the term meant the same thing. I've never seen it applied to peripheral IV's though.

abooker · Dec 4, 2007

I just found the term used re: central lines.

If a fibrin sheath has formed outside the catheter and thrombolytic therapy won't clear the obstruction, an interventional radiologist may use a stripping procedure to pull the sheath off the catheter and preserve the line.[/Quote]
Anybody know an interventional radiologist?
I V infiltration: Not just a peripheral problem
Nursing, Sep 1999 by Hadaway, Lynn C
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3689/is_199909/ai_n8861948/pg_3

TazziRN, RN · Dec 5, 2007

ED. or cath lab will commonly just place the IV tubing directly to the catheter hub.
That may be fine and dandy for ED. but not at all satisfactory for the floors! I just think this policy is just plain laziness; besides, they have the equipment in ED!

Okay, Tele, we're about to have our first disagreement!

While I agree that most of the time ER staff have the time to add an extension, and I often did, I can understand why a lot of them don't.

A: Bleeders

B: Traumas that may be bleeders

C: Traumas that go to the OR

D: Anything that goes to the OR

After having to mess with tubing to get the extension off when blood is going to be infused, and listening to the OR staff gripe about having to take them off, or dealing with a trauma and attaching one automatically and then have to take if off because you weren't thinking, I can see why a lot of ER nurses don't bother. It may be only one extra step, but those extra steps add up and can lead to even more steps when we should be concentrating on the pt.

boggle, ASN, RN · Dec 5, 2007

Kinda like milking a cow,,,lol. Kidding. This is not acceptable practice anymore,although still done. When an IV was sluggish,we would pinch the tubing and "milk" down towards the site. It was commonly done. Not really a good idea with small clot release and such. "

I agree with CMO412. Stripping an IV when it was sluggish or running poorly was common back when I started years ago. It makes me cringe to think of how may little clots I helps move along before I knew better.:imbar

CyndieRN2007 · Dec 5, 2007

to "milk" the line... was taught in nursing school this was a bad practice.