We had an incident where a wire was lost in a patient. It was removed surgically but we are looking for literature/supporting articles regarding picc insertion safety and advantages of 2 person picc teams. Or any literature to support the root cause analysis regarding this issue.
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Lynn
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
126 Main Street, PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861
You lost the wire during a PICC insertion??
I would say if so, you are probably advancing way to much of the wire. I know sometimes it can move while inserting the introducer, got to keep ahold of it continually and always be assessing the amount of wire exposed. It is always supposed to only go in the vessell aprrox 10-12 cm.
One thing I also did, was when I first started after I would cannulate vessell and then place the wire , I would turn away from pt to my work spot and cut the PICC, this would cause me to have my eyes off the wire.
I changed it where I now take the tray off my work spot and place it right on the pts lap area and do my cutting there. This way the wire is always in my site. I personally dont think I need another person in the room to watch the wire, I just had to re organize my flow where I could always see the wire.
thanks, Gina
Sorry....I dont have any studies, just my life experience...
Gina Ward R.N., VA-BC
When we remove the needle from the wire, we hold onto the wire, slip the introducer over the wire and then bend the end of the wire a bit so it won't go all the way in - if it slips in. We also try not to advance the wire in too much. Then we go about trimming the catheter without worrying about the wire.