Protect those IV sites!
Protect those IV sites!
Shield gives patients, nurses peace of mind
For patients unfamiliar with IV medications, having to live with an IV can be challenging and stressful. Thanks to I.V. House intravenous site protector, you can alleviate some of the concerns of your home infusion patients.
The I.V. House is a latex-free, transparent, flexible plastic shield designed to fit over an indwelling IV catheter hub and cover the looped-back tubing to provide protection against accidental dislodgements and subsequent IV restarts that result in increased IV catheter dwell time.
"A lot of these patients have never had home infusion, so they are walking around scared they're going to do something to their IV," says Patti Hogenmiller, RN, a home infusion nurse for American Home Patient in St. Louis. "If it's covered up, they are going to feel a lot more comfortable with it."
Hogenmiller says her office uses the I.V. House on nearly all of its patients.
Preventing curious hands from doing harm
"We are using them for adults and children, especially for PICC lines in small children," she says. "I think the patient fear of hurting their IV is less if it's covered, so it makes them a lot more secure. Patients are happier because it's a protective cover and their fear of injuring the site decreases."
Using an I.V. House on pediatric cases can help keep children's curious hands from doing damage to the catheter site.
"For children, they can't get to their IV and start picking at it, which children usually do," she says. "So it's one more thing we can do to make the IV therapy safer at home for our patients."
But it's not just patients who benefit.
"Parents of the pediatric patients like it because they know as little as possible can happen to the IV site," notes Hogenmiller.
Candy Drown-Migneco, RN, BSN, CRNI, infusion intake coordinator for BJC Home Infusion in St. Louis, says such a protective covering is a must for some patients.
"I used it for pediatrics, but also for cystic fibrosis patients who are thin-walled people, so it's more for covering up their port so they don't have to worry about the needle coming dislodged," she says.
When using it on children, Drown-Migneco puts a colorful sticker on the I.V. House to help draw attention away from the catheter itself.
[Editor's note: For more information on I.V. House, contact I.V. House at (800) 530-0400, or write the company at: I.V. House, 7400 Foxmont Dr., Hazelwood, MO 63042-2198.]
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