Wiping off IV ports

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

I almost exclusively have patient's with central lines at work, so scrubbing the ports before using them with an alcohol wipe is essential. When I do have a patient with a peripheral IV, however, when flushing it or connecting tubing I still scrub it with alcohol. I feel like this is how I was taught in school. My dad was in the hospital and people were constantly doing stuff with his IV, no alcohol wipe. I figured it was poor practice, but a short cut in a busy unit. Then I had to go to a different hospital for a CT scan, and there the nurse pushes contrast and connected fluids never using an alcohol wipe (except for insertion). Do you use alcohol wipes? Are they needed?

[SandraCVRN]

I wipe ALL ports before access. But unfortunatly see lots of folks not doing it...

[rn undisclosed name]

Always, always, always! You can get an infection from a peripheral line just like you can a central line.

BTW, you should be scrubbing the hub and not wiping. Never forget the saying "scrub the hub". I can't believe people wouldn't do that. That is one shortcut I never take. It's not worth it to have a blood stream infection.

[LemonIndiscretion]

My cousin is Infection Control Coordinator at a big hospital in my area and she is always on my a** about wiping IV ports all the time! I'm a senior in my nursing program but I always have her voice in my head whenever I go near an IV. She started early with me and now it's so ingrained in my brain that I do it without even thinking about it. All of my clinical teachers have always been good about it, but I see nurses not doing it all the time. I can't predict the future and who knows what I'll do when I'm actually working but I'd like to think that my cousin's voice will never leave my head :)

[JBudd, MSN]

Our last bout of hospital competencies said you have to wipe for at least 15 seconds for the alcohol to do any good. Just the mechanical action removes quite a bit (harking back to microbiology days, washing with just water and scrubbing grew out very few bugs on the agar, soap didn't make that much of a difference on number of bugs grown off fingers).

[rn undisclosed name]

My cousin is Infection Control Coordinator at a big hospital in my area and she is always on my a** about wiping IV ports all the time! I'm a senior in my nursing program but I always have her voice in my head whenever I go near an IV. She started early with me and now it's so ingrained in my brain that I do it without even thinking about it. All of my clinical teachers have always been good about it, but I see nurses not doing it all the time. I can't predict the future and who knows what I'll do when I'm actually working but I'd like to think that my cousin's voice will never leave my head :)

Please don't take that shortcut. Alcohol wipes come in so handy. I use them for other things besides iv ports. They're great for wiping off dried blood too! At the beginning of your shift put a bunch in your pocket and you're set for your shift. Then there's never any excuse. If I run out I leave the room and get more alcohol wipes.

[rita359]

I can't imagine why anyone who is professional would not use alcohol on any kind of iv device. What the hay? Don't they even teach that is school?

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

I wouldn't skip the alcohol any faster than I would give a patient the wrong meds on purpose.

[IVNinja300]

That is very wrong practice that you have seen. Like someone posted earlier you need to scrub for 15 sec. I always grab a lot of alcohol wipes and put them in my pocket at the start of my shift. You never know when you might need one; I use them a lot. IV lines, gtubes, etc.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

That is very wrong practice that you have seen. Like someone posted earlier you need to scrub for 15 sec. I always grab a lot of alcohol wipes and put them in my pocket at the start of my shift. You never know when you might need one; I use them a lot. IV lines, gtubes, etc.

Gtubes? What do you wipe and why?

[Morainey, BSN, RN]

Oh man, I scrub that hub! And I count to three in my head while I do it. At this point it's so ingrained that when I see another nurse NOT scrubbing the hub it skeeves me out. But I've been known to rip down unlabeled IV tubing as well

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

I almost exclusively have patient's with central lines at work, so scrubbing the ports before using them with an alcohol wipe is essential. When I do have a patient with a peripheral IV, however, when flushing it or connecting tubing I still scrub it with alcohol. I feel like this is how I was taught in school. My dad was in the hospital and people were constantly doing stuff with his IV, no alcohol wipe. I figured it was poor practice, but a short cut in a busy unit. Then I had to go to a different hospital for a CT scan, and there the nurse pushes contrast and connected fluids never using an alcohol wipe (except for insertion). Do you use alcohol wipes? Are they needed?

OMG, yes every single time, no matter what. before flush, hook up etc. any time