What is your policy/procedure for drawing blood for PTT from Central line....

[nursenatalie]

When heparin is infusing...we have been debating this and are finding a lot of conflicting information...How do you do it?

[bluesky, BSN, RN]

For PT/PTTs we can draw from an arterial line after a waste. Any other central line or peripheral iv it is not policy to draw from...must be a stick. ouch.

Per our policy we can draw from aline but can't do any other blood draws through central lines-triple lumens, cordis', piccs, etc-

And ya gotta love sticking someone who's on a anticoagulant drip....ewwww! Can you imagine having to stick a pt on Argatroban q2 hrs or so until they're therapeutic. Yuck. We use art lines but I had to stick my pt who was on Argatroban for a blood culture today and his antecube (OK, not the best site but he was sooooo edematous that I couldn't find anything else) just bled out like water falls. I had to apply heavy pressure and elevate the arm for at least 10 minutes- kind of like when you D/C an art line.

[kevagonia]

I'm interested in knowing the real data about this issue. I can certainly see how a peripheral stick would be better policy, but that's just an assumption. Anyone know of a study? It is not in our policy to do this, but maybe it should be?

[SICU Queen]

We can draw from an a-line with a 10cc waste. If there's no line, only PIV's or central lines, the patient gets a stick.