What Do You Think?

New Questions Sandbags for MC Does your cath lab routinely employ sandbags following manual compression for sheath removal? How long do you leave the sandbags on? Are sandbags utilized for all manual sheath removals or is it sheath-size dependent? Michele Kosinski, RN, MSN, CCRN, CEN Nurse Manager Cath Lab St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center, Syracuse, New York Email: Michele.kosinski at sjhsyr.org Cc: cathlabdigest at aol.com RN Role in Innovative Procedures I am writing today to request some guidance from the experts at Cath Lab Digest. I am developing a presentation on innovations in interventional cardiology. I have found a respectable amount of information regarding gene therapy, angiogenesis, percutaneous PFO/valve repair all of these fabulous topics that I would like to address. However, what I have not been able to find are articles that address the nurse’s role in the care for the patients receiving these therapies. This is truly the direction I would like my presentation to move. Would you have any input into where I may find such material? I greatly appreciate your time. Dawn Vollers, MSN, RN, BC Educator Department of Education and Development ViaHealth Rochester General Hospital Rochester, New York Email: dawn.vollers at viahealth.org Cc: cathlabdigest at aol.com Radiation Risk Reduction How do you prevent or reduce the risk of scatter radiation during your procedure? And how important is it to you and your staff? Ken Russell Email: krussell at microtekmed.com Cc: cathlabdigest at aol.com Sheath Pulling Competency We have a busy cardiac progressive care unit and get many patients from the cath lab post intervention with arterial sheaths in place. Since there are over 100 nurses on the unit, it is difficult to keep them all competent in sheath pulling. How do other places handle this? Is the development of hematoma or pseudoaneurysm most related to sticking technique or pulling technique? Thanks for your expertise and input! Joan M. Mack, RN, MSN, CS Clinical Nurse Specialist, Cardiology Email: JMack at nebraskamed.com Cc: cathlabdigest at aol.com Days On Call Per Month My hospital has 2 heart labs and 1 specials lab. There is a total of 5 RNs and/or RTs that take call daily. During a month’s period, we average 9-10 days of call per team member. My question is, what is the typical number of days on-call for RNs/RTs per month, and do you have a policy regarding the maximum number of days a team member, either RN or RT is allowed to take on-call, per month? Thank you! Theresa Billington, RN Staff Nurse-Cathlab Lake Hospital System Willoughby, Ohio Email: Tmb54669 at aol.com Cc: cathlabdigest at aol.com Cervical and Lumbar Damage from Lead Aprons Do you as a cath lab professional suffer from cervical and/or lumbar disc damage? My suspicion is that wearing the lead as often and for as long as we do, that the weight is causing a significant percent of our professionals’ to suffer lifetime damage! Bob Basile Email: bobstero at ptd.net Cc: cathlabdigest at aol.com I have been employed by a very busy cath lab for the past 21 years. I usually wear a lead apron for an average of 4-6 hours per day, 5 days a week. About 3 months ago, while scrubbed in on a long angioplasty/stent case, I noticed severe burning in my trapezius muscle with pain radiating into my deltoid muscle with numbness and tingling down my left arm into my thumb. That same day I met with employee health nurse practitioner. She ordered an MRI of the cervical spine and the findings were left C6 nerve compression by disk. I am still having problems after undergoing cervical block injections. I no longer wear lead aprons for the time being. I would like to hear if other cath lab techs have had similar symptoms? Larry Williams Orlando, Florida Email: lww56f at aol.com

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