CVME Insider: Nursing Knowledge That Matters

3.8 million central venous catheters (CVCs).... 2 million peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs)..... and 310 million peripheral intravenous devices sold yearly in the US......   "Based on average salary and benefits for an RN, the average time of 36 minutes for a nurse to trouble shoot and restart a PIV translates to a labor cost of an estimated $22.79 per incident ( Rosenthal, 2005 )."   Vascular access and Infusion Therapy  is clearly a high priority and nurses take a lot of time performing these procedures for our patients. Getting the right vascular access device placed early in the hospital stay can speed treatment and patient discharge while minimizing cost as well as restarts.   Maintaining the health of our patients veins and arteries has become an important issue as patients now come to hospitals more acutely ill, living longer, often having chronic conditions. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) selection of the...

  A Huber Needle is a specially designed hollow needle used with implanted ports. A Huber needle has a long, beveled tip that is inserted through the patients skin as well until it accesses the silicone septum the implanted port's reservoir. The beveled tip of a Huber needle will not remove a core of silicone from implanted port as this is the way it is designed.   This design will allow as much as 2000 needle sticks into the implanted port’s reservoir without having to be changed. Dr. Ralph L. Huber , a dentist, designed the sharp, beveled, directional needle tip and Dr. Edward B. Tuohy, an anesthesiologist, refined it for use in spinal catheters. Huber needles are used to access ports implanted under the skin of patients who may be suffering from a chronic illness, such as cancer, pancreatitis, or has the need for repeated access to veins for blood withdrawal.   These patients often need the implanted port for infusion of medication , nutritional solutions, blo...