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.
- 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)
- Lay out drape
- Open saline and hep; don’t put on drape
- Open needle; leave in packaging and don’t put on drape
- Open clave, put onto needle tubing, fill with saline, recap saline, let clave hang outside needle packaging
- Open skin prep; don’t put on drape
- Open cleansers, biopatch and tegaderm without touching contents and drop onto drape
- 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)
- Swab port area with cleansers
- Insert needle
- Place biopatch between skin and needle, blue side out
- Flush with saline and then hep; close clamp!
- Apply skin prep and cover area with tegaderm
(S)=Sterile, (U)=Unsterile
Detailed steps can be found here.
(shudder)