Our "Scrub the Hub" Campaign
Brushing up on IV hub and port disinfection.
D
o your nurses and anesthetists scrub the hub, port and vial
they're accessing every time they access it? Probably not.
After a surveyor cited us because an RN failed to wipe the
top of a vial after popping the cap, I wondered how consistently we
were disinfecting IV hubs and ports, and the tops of drug vials with an
alcohol wipe. Not every time, it turned out. We launched a "Scrub the
Hub (Port and Vial)" campaign to remedy that.
• When do you scrub the hub? Every time you're about to attach
anything onto the injection cap of a peripheral IV. Scrub every poten-
tial portal of entry for infection, including injection ports into bags or
bottles, injection ports on administration sets, needleless connectors
and the hub of a catheter itself. You should cap stopcocks and injec-
tion ports when they're not in use.
• How do you scrub the hub? Adequately scrubbing the hub
2 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U N E 2 0 1 7
Infection Prevention
Barbara J. Holder RN, BSN, LHRM, CAPA
• TWISTING MOTION Use an alcohol wipe and apply friction for 10 to 15 seconds on every injection port and hub.
Barbara
J.
Holder
RN,
BSN,
LHRM,
CAPA