Vascular access and contrast media.
J Infus Nurs. 2011 Mar-Apr;34(2):97-105
Authors: Earhart A, McMahon P
Over the past several years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received more than 250 adverse event rep…

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Intraosseous route as alternative access for infusion therapy.

J Infus Nurs. 2010 May-Jun;33(3):162-74

Authors: Vizcarra C, Clum S

The safe and effective use of intraosseous (IO) access is evolving from its historical use only for emergent access for pediatric patients to use in adult trauma patients and, more recently, for adult inpatients. Current data and research support the use of IO route for infusion in patients of any age as a safe, rapid, and equally effective alternative to intravenous access. The article provides an overview of IO access indications, care, and management; describes therapies administered via IO access; and discusses the expanding use of IO access into areas within hospitals during nonemergent clinical situations.

PMID: 20442600 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Central catheter blood sampling: the impact of changing the needleless caps prior to collection.

J Infus Nurs. 2009 Jul-Aug;32(4):212-8

Authors: Mathew A, Gaslin T, Dunning K, Ying J

Little is known about the association between central catheter needleless connectors and bacteremia. In a cohort study on 91 patients, central catheter blood samples were collected using 3 methods–old cap (the existing cap), new cap (after replacing the old cap with a new sterile cap), and peripheral methods–from each patient and their correlation was examined. The old cap method identified 36 positive bacteremia cases. However, only 17 cases were verified by the new cap method, yielding a positive predictive value of 47.2% (17/36). The 19 false-positive cases indicated old cap contamination. This study recommends that changing the needleless cap before drawing blood samples would be an ideal practice for obtaining more specific and reliable results in diagnosing bacteremia.

PMID: 19606000 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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