Abbreviated Steps for Portacath Access

This is the list I kept at my side to keep me straight about the sequence of steps needed during the sterile procedures necessary when changing my huber needle until it became an ingrained routine.

1. Supplies
   • Drape (S)
   • Saline (U)
   • Hep (U)
   • Skin Prep (U)
   • Huber Needle (S) but packaging (U)
   • Clave (U)
   • Cleansers (S)
   • Biopatch (S)
   • Op-Site (S)
   • Tegaderm (S)
2. Lay out drape
3. Open saline and hep; don’t put on drape
4. Open needle; leave in packaging and don’t put on drape
5. Open clave, put onto needle tubing, fill with saline, recap saline, let clave hang outside needle packaging
6. Open skin prep; don’t put on drape
7. Open cleansers, biopatch and tegaderm without touching contents and drop onto drape
8. Put on gloves (first hand: only touch inside of glove and cuff with other hand; second hand: only touch outside of glove and under cuff with other hand)
9. Swab port area with cleansers
10. Insert needle
11. Place biopatch between skin and needle, blue side out
12. Flush with saline and then hep; close clamp!
13. Apply skin prep and cover area with tegaderm

(S)=Sterile, (U)=Unsterile

Detailed steps can be found here.