Question

Please read the question carefully, I need the answer typed.

Mr. Turn’s healthcare team has evaluated him for a peripherally-inserted central catheter (PICC) line. Mr. Turn is a deemed a suitable candidate, and the PICC team is preparing to insert the line.

Describe how a PICC line is different from a PIV line.

What is the nursing care of PICC line?

What would be the most pertinent nursing diagnosis for a patient with a PICC line?

Answer 1

Answer: The PICC line is used for long-term intravenous (IV) antibiotics, nutrition or medications, and for blood draws as it is a soft, thin, long tube like a catheter that is inserted into a vein of child's or adult's arm, leg or neck. The PICC line is much longer and fed up a vein and positioned in one of the big veins that opens directly into the heart ie the Superior Vena Cava. The tip of the catheter is positioned in a large vein that carries blood into the heart whereas a peripheral intravenous line (PIV) is mainly used in infants as it is a small, short, plastic tube, called a catheter. A health care provider puts the PIV through the skin into a vein in the scalp, hand, arm, or foot. The nursing care of PICC line as dressing should be changed at least once per week. To prevent infection dressing must be changed more often. Nurse should examine the site and the skin for swelling, pain, pus, leaking fluid, torn skin, redness etc. Proper maintenance of hygiene should be performed to prevent any kind of infection.