Nurses - is this right?

Do be aware that Hickman lines are notorious for getting infected, partly because they're in a very vulnerable location and partly because too many healthcare staff tend to skip important hygiene steps when accessing them. Whoever got your wife's Mum to sign the consent form should have been very clear about that but there's always idiots who just bury the risk in the text without highlighting it.

Originally Posted by ranathari

Do be aware that Hickman lines are notorious for getting infected, partly because they're in a very vulnerable location and partly because too many healthcare staff tend to skip important hygiene steps when accessing them. Whoever got your wife's Mum to sign the consent form should have been very clear about that but there's always idiots who just bury the risk in the text without highlighting it.

Can I ask where you get this information from???????????????

I have never known a Hickman line to become infected... NEVER and the reason why is because they are in an artery which, yes, is an extremely vulnerable location.

I agree that many healthcare staff might tend to skip important hygiene steps when it comes to basic nursing care and wound care but a hickman line is slightly different. Also, most hickman lines are cared for by either the patient themselves or the District Nursing staff once that patient is discharged and attending hospital for chemo. We follow an extremely rigorous and strict protocol including double gloving, aprons, totally aseptic technique, use of sterile alcohol wipes (which is extremely rare in other medical procedures these days), and several flushes of saline and hepsol.

As for signing the consent form.... all surgical procedures have to, by law, contain the words "risk of infection"