Which tape to use?

[mindofmidwifery]

Maybe it's obvious or maybe it's taught in nursing school but which kind of tape should I use when doing dressings? I never thought to ask when I was learning to do them.

Thank you!

[NurseStorm, BSN, RN]

I like mepore dressings, we use them a LOT in my hospital. If one size will be way too long, and one too short, sometimes I will cut the longer one and then overlap them to make an appropriate size, and use medipore tape to cover. I also love the medipore tape, I use it to reinforce mepores, or if I want to use a 4x4 for example I will put medipore tape on around the 4x4 and the adhesive is the same as a mepore dressing. I would use this tape for most of my dressings that didn't suit the standard sizes, but I don't know that all places stock it, even in my hospital.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

Medipore tape. Our hospital only stocks the 2" size, so I sometimes trim it down to half.

[Julius Seizure]

When you have a patient with really thin, fragile skin, but you really need the dressing to stay put, Hypafix tape is a good option. Unfortunately, my job considers that a specialty supply so the patient has to have an order for Hypafix and it has to come from the supply room, which can take forever. Not to mention Hypafix is a pain in the butt to get taped down, what with having to peel two lines of paper off of it.

Hypafix is the bomb. I wish it would be the standard tape for our newborn patients in ICU. Alas, it costs too much $$$

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

What dressings would you say are good with microfoam?

Healing (non-infected) surgical incisions, mostly. Not wound care. When I was a new grad I worked on a surgical floor and became a microfoam master.

It also works to make a cover for an IV so a patient can shower.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

What if they're young with strong skin? Is it better to use the duraspore (?) because it's kind of water resistant?

I really like medipore but it's expensive and some facilities don't carry it. Our facility is using a dressing called Allevon Gentle which has a silicone matrix that makes it stick. It also depend on what the physician likes.

Hppy

[CelticGoddess, BSN, RN]

I like medipore tape. I tend to use that unless wound team orders otherwise. It seems to work really well for sacral wounds. And it doesn't seem to take off delicate skin the way silk or plastic tape does. If the wound is on a limb, I will use kling or kerlix to wrap the dressing and tape the dressing. (Again, I use medicare because I just like it.)

We have started carrying white and blue paper tape (can't remember the name) and the blue is really good about not pulling skin or hair. It also doesn't stick well on sacral wounds.

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

Fan of hype fix...sticks and easy on the skin.A cheaper alternative is Me fix and medipore.

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

Supposed to hypa fix...my silly phone corrected it

[qiqueen]

One might also want to consider the purpose: occlusive, basic coverage, etc. Many times paper tape will be sufficient; however, I agree with whomever mentioned silk as a favorite. As an old Ortho nurse, silk is wonderful for knees with all the flexion going on.

[CryssyD]

Silk tape has always been my favorite. If I can get my hands on a roll of it, I steal it immediately and put it in my pocket--I use it for all kinds of dressings, reinforcing dressings, and IVs. If I can avoid using tape at all, though, I usually will--I like Tegaderm-type dressings, they generally stay in place pretty well.

[Wrench Party]

Depends on the incision on our cardiac surgical floors. The big midsternals get a big hydrocolloid foam/antibacterial type dressing that stays on for up to a few weeks, clamshell incisions get staples and Ive never seen a dressing on them yet. Chest tube/LVADS get good old gauze and that special low-stick surgical tape over the occlusive/silver strip dressings. Groin sites, usually from caths, come out with either gauze, steri strips, or gauze/Tegaderm. Incisions/ulcers in weird places usually get some sort of fancy foam dressing to reduce pressure. Pacer wires come out wrapped in gauze and surgical tape.

We don't use much silk tape on our floor, save to stabilize extra IV tubing to someone's arm.

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

So, it really depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

If it really needs to stick but the skin is very tender or thin... and you're not trying to secure a load-bearing item: Tegaderm

If it's OK that it doesn't stick terribly well and the skin is tender or they proclaim a tape allergy: Paper tape or the 3M silicone tape

General purpose (securing IV's, etc): Transpore (plastic tape)... sticks well and easy to tear into strips

When strength and sticky count: Silk tape... width determined by application... 12mm for IVs, 75mm for helping to secure the head in the CT scanner

Surgical dressings: Medipore

Chest tubes and wet, bloody skin: Foam tape

And whatever tape you're choosing... don't forget the benzoin if the skin is anything besides clean and dry (and likely to remain that way).

And for IVs, consider the various reinforced dressings.

And no matter the tape: For thin, fragile skin... use alcohol prep pads to dissolve the adhesive and go sloooowwww. Skin tears from tape removal are a "never-event" in my book.

Check out:

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/128297O/tips-for-trouble-free-taping-brochure.pdf?fn=70-2008-6377-0.pdf

and

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/784590O/3m-medical-tapes-full-line-catalog.pdf?fn=70-2010-8488-9.pdf