Wiping off IV ports

Nurses General Nursing

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Flare, ASN, BSN

4,431 Posts

Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

wipe wipe wipe wipe!

We have alcohol infused caps that are supposed to be screw onto ports that aren't in use.

nursebooboo

17 Posts

You wonder where these people lose their conscience. I would feel SO guilty, and horrible if I didn't scrub first - YOU ARE KNOWINGLY causing an increased risk for infection!

My grandmother was in the hospital the first of the year (had a stroke after back surgery) and she ended up with a central line. My mother is also a nurse, and she was in the room visiting - when the nurse who was taking care of my grandmother came in. My mom said she picked up the line, pulled a syringe out of her pocket, connected the syringe to the hub, and just pushed it right in. No scrubbing, no explanation of what she was doing...NOTHING. So my mom said - did you really just connect that without scrubbing the hub first, and the nurse looked like a deer in headlights. She said oh I forgot... REALLY YOU FORGOT? NO YOU JUST DO IT ALL THE TIME, AND THIS TIME YOU GOT CAUGHT... GRRRRRRR. needless to say - my mom reported it. not only because it was my grandmother, but for future patients. The nurse my mom reported it to said that was in no way acceptable and she would address it.

grownuprosie

377 Posts

I always scrubbed the hubs when doing pushes, but at the hospital where I went to school no one ever scrubbed the hub before "looping" the iv when unplugging it. My new hospital they all do, and I was soooo embarrassed to realize that I had been looping into contaminated hubs. I mean, DUH, right? Pretty obvious but I just never thought about it because that's what my teachers and all the nurses did. And now they tell me we can't even loop the iv at all even if it's been scrubbed, we have to use a new sterile port cap. (But yet they expect us to go to the supply room and charge one out every time we have to disconnect a line, instead of just making them available to pocket like the alcohol wipes. Even though they only cost a few pennies a piece, I was told.)

My instructor showed us to cap the line with the cap from the flush. That way you dont have to go get a new sterile cap. Just an idea :)

The standard is .. wipe all ports, twice,, with a 15 second wait in between.

It is the drying time that kills any organism .. not the wiping action.

However,, that 30 seconds .. seems like a lifetime with every thing else we need to do.

Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
The standard is .. wipe all ports, twice,, with a 15 second wait in between.

It is the drying time that kills any organism .. not the wiping action.

Do you have a source for this?

That's the opposite of what they're teaching in our program (that it's the FRICTION that is the bigger bug-killer), and I'd love to have a link to share with my instructor, if you have one?

Altra, BSN, RN

6,255 Posts

Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.
Do you have a source for this?

That's the opposite of what they're teaching in our program (that it's the FRICTION that is the bigger bug-killer), and I'd love to have a link to share with my instructor, if you have one?

Depends on the agent being used. Alcohol is greatly aided by the friction. With chlorhexadine - the drying time is critical.

mikala3

50 Posts

I was taught to always always wipe the ports, and that is what I do. When I was a student working with a preceptor, I asked her about that. She stated that as long as you were going from covered port directly to a sterile item, there was no need to wipe. I still wipe. I do not want to pull an IV line off of a port and stick a flush directly onto it without cleaning it.

Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
I'm curious about this also. Not like the stomach is sterile.

Actually, studies have shown that 15 seconds of vigorous scrubbing, similar to the motion you'd use when juicing an orange, are required for optimal reduction of bacterial load. I'm tempted to cut it short all the time, but I just remind myself that 10 more seconds of my day could prevent a crappy outcome for the patient.

OMG I hate it when I find tubing like that. The cap to your pre-filled NS flush fits the end of the tubing too, and that's sterile. I carry a few flushes around with me always (whatever, Joint Commission- explain to me how an NS syringe in my pocket is more cross-contamination than my cheat sheet or pens) and I end up using them as much for the cap as I do to use them for flushing. Honestly, when I see tubing looped, I get upset because I don't feel right using that tubing- I have no idea whether the sleepy nurse last night scrubbed first. Come on, the minute it takes to run for a cap vs. priming all new tubing!!!! Let's just do the BEST thing for our patients.

See what I mean? Or you have a nurse who never learned to scrub it before looping it, even!! I am super embarrassed about that one, wondering what else they may not know in my old neck of the woods.

They also told us at work we couldn't use the NS flush cap either!! And how is the syringe in the pocket going to get contaminated? It's even in a wrapper for heaven's sakes! I hope I never veer towards infection control as a career; I probably wouldn't be able to stand myself. No offense, infection control nurses, lol

Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
The standard is .. wipe all ports, twice,, with a 15 second wait in between.

It is the drying time that kills any organism .. not the wiping action.

However,, that 30 seconds .. seems like a lifetime with every thing else we need to do.

That's what I learned too, it's the drying that kills the germs. However, standing there holding the hub like a dope, staring at it, waiting for it to dry so I can push....the patients think I'm a kook lol. That's what makes me know hardly anyone else lets the darn thing dry either.

I always always scrub my hub. At least with alcohol on PIVs but I prefer to use our chlorprep swabs. For central lines I always use chlorprep scrubs. How hard is it to keep a couple of wipes on your person at all times?

Vespertinas

652 Posts

I NEVER WIPE HUBS AND I AM PROUD OF IT!

just kiddnig. This thread is boring me with all of us agreeing in chorus. I like a little debate. I bet those non-scrubbers are lurking behind the wings...

healthstar, BSN, RN

1 Article; 944 Posts

I NEVER WIPE HUBS AND I AM PROUD OF IT!just kiddnig. This thread is boring me with all of us agreeing in chorus. I like a little debate. I bet those non-scrubbers are lurking behind the wings...
Hahahaha I am sure those non-wipers non-scrubbers, are probably posting that they Wipe all the time lol.....I'm sure they know what's the right thing to do they are just plain lazy lol
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