Wiping off IV ports

[blondy2061h]

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?

[jelly221,RN]

My text says that not all manufacturers guarantee sterility under the top. So, you can check every time or just swab. I think it would probably take longer to track down the info than just to scrub.

Thanks for the info! I'm on my way to class (MSN program) and I'm gonna ask my friends what they do & if they've ever checked, out of curiosity.

[IVRUS, BSN, RN]

In response to the post regarding your instructor who told you to use the cap from the syringe...Your instructor is telling you this in error. The caps from the flush, just like any caps are for SINGLE use..ONLY!! That means you shouldn't be using them on something else. Some instructors need schooling too.

[jelly221,RN]

In response to the post regarding your instructor who told you to use the cap from the syringe...Your instructor is telling you this in error. The caps from the flush, just like any caps are for SINGLE use..ONLY!! That means you shouldn't be using them on something else. Some instructors need schooling too.

Makes sense. I guess where I'm confused is that I fail to see the difference in the cap from the flush and the little white plastics caps. They're both sterile, and they're both covering the threads & tip of the tubing that connects to the IV site. Unless I contaminate either cap, they don't automatically become "unsterile". Goodness, if the flush caps aren't sterile, then I've been risking a lot of phlebitises (not sure the correct plural?) every time I flush an IV.

Not arguing about the "one-time use", just trying to think through it logically.

[redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN]

I think they're saying it's because the "one time" it was used was when it capped the flush syringe.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

I kinda want the OP to name the hospital so I can avoid it lol Other than during codes, there is no reason to skip scrubbing a line.

Just to be clear, this isn't where I work. It occurred at two separate hospitals, neither of which I have ever worked at. Regardless, not naming them for privacy reasons. Sorry.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

I think they're saying it's because the "one time" it was used was when it capped the flush syringe.

Yeah, but if it touched nothing between the flush and the tubing, in theory, it shouldn't be contaminated JUST because it's being used a second time.

(But I'm still violently opposed to using the flush caps, at least on the ends of syringe tubing. They don't come off, so might as well have saved yourself the trouble, as I'll have to replace the tubing anyway.)

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Yeah, but if it touched nothing between the flush and the tubing, in theory, it shouldn't be contaminated JUST because it's being used a second time.

(But I'm still violently opposed to using the flush caps, at least on the ends of syringe tubing. They don't come off, so might as well have saved yourself the trouble, as I'll have to replace the tubing anyway.)

We have the opposite problem- ours don't stay on! We had these flushes we used briefly during a shortage of our regular flushes that had the perfect caps.

[IVRUS, BSN, RN]

Makes sense. I guess where I'm confused is that I fail to see the difference in the cap from the flush and the little white plastics caps. They're both sterile, and they're both covering the threads & tip of the tubing that connects to the IV site. Unless I contaminate either cap, they don't automatically become "unsterile". Goodness, if the flush caps aren't sterile, then I've been risking a lot of phlebitises (not sure the correct plural?) every time I flush an IV.

Not arguing about the "one-time use", just trying to think through it logically.

Well Logically Speaking, The white cap that you are referring to should be coming out of a single unit package and one which is in a sterile package. The top to a cap "was" sterile, until you took it off, opened it to air, set it down... now you can't reuse it.. Does that make sense?

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Well Logically Speaking, The white cap that you are referring to should be coming out of a single unit package and one which is in a sterile package. The top to a cap "was" sterile, until you took it off, opened it to air, set it down... now you can't reuse it.. Does that make sense?

But if you don't set it down, the part that will connect to the tubing hasn't touched anything. Except air, which your IV cap out of package is going to touch air.

And actually to just nitpick, our syringes aren't considered sterile, even in the package. The inside is, but you can't dump the syringe onto a sterile field. Just so someone doesn't go and think that in the package necessarily means the whole syringe is sterile. But that has nothing to do with the screwing part of the cap being sterile. Before or after it comes off the syringe. :)

[IVRUS, BSN, RN]

But if you don't set it down, the part that will connect to the tubing hasn't touched anything. Except air, which your IV cap out of package is going to touch air.

But.. You just removed the cap off of the syringe, set the cap down, then flushed your line, and now you're picking it back up and reusing it... It was only meant to cover the syringe, as that was its only purpose. However, the white, blue or red "dead end" cap has just come out of a sterile package and is meant for single use too.. at the end of the IV tubing. And after its use, replace it with a new sterile cap.

[OnlybyHisgraceRN, ASN, RN]

I'm crazy about wiping off ports. Even after removing a sterile cap and flushing with a sterile flush I still wipe the hub in between.

[Asystole RN]

But if you don't set it down, the part that will connect to the tubing hasn't touched anything. Except air, which your IV cap out of package is going to touch air.

And actually to just nitpick, our syringes aren't considered sterile, even in the package. The inside is, but you can't dump the syringe onto a sterile field. Just so someone doesn't go and think that in the package necessarily means the whole syringe is sterile. But that has nothing to do with the screwing part of the cap being sterile. Before or after it comes off the syringe. :)

You can rationalize it all you want, it still is bad practice. Just follow best practices and grab an actual sterile cap.

You sound like the people who argue why they do not need to gown and glove when entering an isolation room, " Buuuuuut, I'm not going to touch anything." Lol