| Knowledge |
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States Contraindications and Relative Contraindications of procedure.
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| Preparation |
| Clinical Standards for Procedures and Interventions. |
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| Verifies the order, patient identity, required tests, arterial catheter and sampling system, insertion site, waveform quality, distal perfusion, and current oxygen-delivery or ventilator settings and time. |
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| Performs hand hygiene and applies appropriate personal protective equipment; prepares an anaerobic balanced-heparin blood-gas syringe, labels, disinfectant, caps, and transport materials. |
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| Assessment |
| Identifies the system dead space, sampling port, stopcock orientation, flush solution, and whether a closed blood-conservation system is available; confirms any infusion through the line can be managed safely. |
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| Implementation |
| Stops or isolates any infusion only as permitted by the device and local protocol, disinfects the sampling port for the required contact time, and maintains aseptic technique. |
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| Clears the line using the closed reservoir when available; if an open discard method is required, uses the validated volume for that system rather than a universal fixed volume. |
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| Recognizes that a 2026 study of a 1-mL-dead-space system found twice the purge volume sufficient for clinical samples, but applies that finding only when consistent with the actual device, local validation, and policy. |
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| Collects the required sample anaerobically into the balanced-heparin syringe, prevents contact with room air, caps the syringe promptly, and gently mixes to distribute heparin and prevent clotting. |
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| Returns the clearing volume to the patient only when using a closed system designed for reinfusion, then flushes the catheter and returns every stopcock to the monitoring position. |
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| Monitoring & Modifications |
| Verifies restoration of the arterial waveform, flush-system pressure, insertion-site integrity, distal perfusion, and absence of bleeding, air, clot, or leakage. |
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| Post-Intervention |
| Expels any visible air without losing sample, labels the specimen with patient, date and time, arterial site, oxygen or ventilator settings, and requested tests, and transports it promptly under the laboratory-validated temperature and time policy. |
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| Documents the sample source, system used, discard or conservation volume, oxygen and ventilator settings, line and distal-perfusion status, complications, and any abnormal result notification. |
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| Post-Intervention Management Steps. |
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