Can anyone share their experiences with the alcohol/chlorahexadine impregnated port protectors? I am going to begin a trial of their use on ICU patients with central lines. I am trying to determine which brand will work best, what methods are the most efficient and cost effective while still being as beneficial to the patients as possible. Any opinions on the use of these devices? Any trouble-shooting or educational issues? Staff resistance? If anyone would like to email me directly with their stories:
Sabrina Danny
Vascular Access RN
Adventist Medical Center-Hanford
Thank you!
None of these protection caps have chlorhexidine. They all have isopropyl alcohol only. Use of these protection caps will prevent the needleless connector from becoming contaminated between uses and is ready to use for the next infusion. However none of them will totally eliminate the need for using an alcohol swab for subsequent connections. SASH requires 4 connections. The protection cap would render it ready to use for the first saline syringe but you will need to do the cleaning with a regular alcohol pad for the medication set, and saline and heparin syringe. The design of some allows the alcohol to dry out and some remain wet. No studies have compared for this difference. Also, this is a 2-sided system. So you cannot pay attention only to cleaning the needleless connector without paying attention to only attaching a sterile set or syringe to the NC. So intermittent sets must have a sterile cap on the male luer when not in use and be discarded after 24 hours. One syringe for one attachment only. Never allow staff to use half the saline before a med then the other half after the med. You can have a pristinely clean NC surface yet connect a contaminated set or syringe and still introduce microorganisms. So you have to pay equal attention to both sides of the system. 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
All of these caps will likely be an improvement. Consistent use of alcohol wipes doesn't exist and while I agree that products shouldn't replace proper technique and education, the reality is that healthcare workers are terrible at this.