My anesthesia technicians/technologists are asking-- "How far in advance can we prepare an IV set-up for an AM surgical procedure? Is there a time limit? They do document on the tubing when the IV set-up was made; however, I'm concerned about IV's hanging in OR suites unattended. Thanx in advance for your suggestions and comments.
I understand your concern and would have reservations about them being unattended. I believe that you are not alone in this practice, but that doesn't make it right.
Does AORN have any comments on this?
Gwen
Everyone should be gravely concerned about this practice and work diligently to get it stopped. The USP 797 guidelines state that use should begin within one hour of opening the package. Go to
http://www.apic.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Position_Statements&Template...
Select the last document on the list "Safe Injection, Infusion, and Medication Vial Practices in Healthcare." This will allow you to download the pdf of a published article with these details. Lynn
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, NPD-BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861
Thank you, Lynn, for the info from APIC. This is exactly what I was searching for to support my stance that IV's should not be set-up (spiked) hours in advance of a surgical procedure.
Gwen, in my research, AORN does not specifically address the issue of IV preparation and defers to APIC or other organizations 'best practices'.
This was routinely done in our facility, often many many hours before hooking up to a patient. When we hired a new Director of Infection Prevention/Control it was stopped for exactly the reason Lynn posted.