Got into a discussion about this the other day. It has never been my facility's practice to return the "waste" blood aspirated before blood sampling from central line,but I know there are places that do this.I can find no specific standards for this--are there? My gut instinct says that once a syringe has been filled with the waste blood and disconnected from the catheter or line,it shouldn't be reconnected for any reason. However I can maybe accept return of the blood through a closed system set-up.
Your thoughts?
You are absolutely correct. Return of waste blood from a syringe that has been disconnected and set aside during the remainder of the procedure is dangerous. Studies have shown that you are returning clots. A literature search will show a review article by Ann Marie Frey in JIN in 2003. Sorry but I could not copy from my database and paste into this message. 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
Thanks Lynn--I have that article and have looked into a few of those referenced in it. Was wondering if there was anything more I hadn't found.
D