Upcoming PICC for 4 year-old

[folione]

My boy is going in Thanksgiving week to get set up for a round of home-IV. He is experienced with the whole routine and is pretty brave but when the nurse comes to change the dressing & statlock after the 1st week, it is total mayhem. The biggest problem is that the statlock device they use at his hospital stymies the nurse's attempts to remove it...we've been through it 3 times and each time the nurse has had to resort to tearing it apart with scissors or clippers while my son writhes in anger/fear about the whole thing.

The statlock device is the one that goes at the picc entry point and tapes to the arm then has a locking clamp that holds the line in place. The problem seems to be that the clamp does not unlock without a huge/painful effort.

I looked at the company website and they've got a new version that sounds like it was designed to be easier to unlock...but hospitals being what they are, I'm not betting on seeing the latest model anytime soon.

So has anybody had one of these where the nurse seemed to know how to get it off with less difficulty?

 

[folione]

My boy is going in Thanksgiving week to get set up for a round of home-IV. He is experienced with the whole routine and is pretty brave but when the nurse comes to change the dressing & statlock after the 1st week, it is total mayhem. The biggest problem is that the statlock device they use at his hospital stymies the nurse's attempts to remove it...we've been through it 3 times and each time the nurse has had to resort to tearing it apart with scissors or clippers while my son writhes in anger/fear about the whole thing.

The statlock device is the one that goes at the picc entry point and tapes to the arm then has a locking clamp that holds the line in place. The problem seems to be that the clamp does not unlock without a huge/painful effort.

I looked at the company website and they've got a new version that sounds like it was designed to be easier to unlock...but hospitals being what they are, I'm not betting on seeing the latest model anytime soon.

So has anybody had one of these where the nurse seemed to know how to get it off with less difficulty?

 

[folione]

My boy is going in Thanksgiving week to get set up for a round of home-IV. He is experienced with the whole routine and is pretty brave but when the nurse comes to change the dressing & statlock after the 1st week, it is total mayhem. The biggest problem is that the statlock device they use at his hospital stymies the nurse's attempts to remove it...we've been through it 3 times and each time the nurse has had to resort to tearing it apart with scissors or clippers while my son writhes in anger/fear about the whole thing.

The statlock device is the one that goes at the picc entry point and tapes to the arm then has a locking clamp that holds the line in place. The problem seems to be that the clamp does not unlock without a huge/painful effort.

I looked at the company website and they've got a new version that sounds like it was designed to be easier to unlock...but hospitals being what they are, I'm not betting on seeing the latest model anytime soon.

So has anybody had one of these where the nurse seemed to know how to get it off with less difficulty?

 

[folione]

My boy is going in Thanksgiving week to get set up for a round of home-IV. He is experienced with the whole routine and is pretty brave but when the nurse comes to change the dressing & statlock after the 1st week, it is total mayhem. The biggest problem is that the statlock device they use at his hospital stymies the nurse's attempts to remove it...we've been through it 3 times and each time the nurse has had to resort to tearing it apart with scissors or clippers while my son writhes in anger/fear about the whole thing.

The statlock device is the one that goes at the picc entry point and tapes to the arm then has a locking clamp that holds the line in place. The problem seems to be that the clamp does not unlock without a huge/painful effort.

I looked at the company website and they've got a new version that sounds like it was designed to be easier to unlock...but hospitals being what they are, I'm not betting on seeing the latest model anytime soon.

So has anybody had one of these where the nurse seemed to know how to get it off with less difficulty?

 

[folione]

My boy is going in Thanksgiving week to get set up for a round of home-IV. He is experienced with the whole routine and is pretty brave but when the nurse comes to change the dressing & statlock after the 1st week, it is total mayhem. The biggest problem is that the statlock device they use at his hospital stymies the nurse's attempts to remove it...we've been through it 3 times and each time the nurse has had to resort to tearing it apart with scissors or clippers while my son writhes in anger/fear about the whole thing.

The statlock device is the one that goes at the picc entry point and tapes to the arm then has a locking clamp that holds the line in place. The problem seems to be that the clamp does not unlock without a huge/painful effort.

I looked at the company website and they've got a new version that sounds like it was designed to be easier to unlock...but hospitals being what they are, I'm not betting on seeing the latest model anytime soon.

So has anybody had one of these where the nurse seemed to know how to get it off with less difficulty?

 

[Rebjane]

My daughter had a PICC with the stat lock about 2+ years ago. The nurse did have a hard time with it, seems hard to unlock(like you said) plus wear sterile gloves. The nurse was sweating when she was through. A couple ideas, request a nurse to changg the dressing who is their"best" IV nurse. There are always more skilled nurses and this is definately a skill. Have your son play with all the equipment, dressing stuff, PICC line stuff, he can play doctor(obviously nothing with needles). We use distraction, sing songs, even can move a TV with his favorite video in. Constantly tell him how brave he is, what a good job he's doing, even if he's freaking out. Also, learning how to use the stack lock thing yourself as a parent; I watched the nurse do it, then had to walk the home care nurse through the dressing change. But it helped get through it. HTH

 

[Rebjane]

My daughter had a PICC with the stat lock about 2+ years ago. The nurse did have a hard time with it, seems hard to unlock(like you said) plus wear sterile gloves. The nurse was sweating when she was through. A couple ideas, request a nurse to changg the dressing who is their"best" IV nurse. There are always more skilled nurses and this is definately a skill. Have your son play with all the equipment, dressing stuff, PICC line stuff, he can play doctor(obviously nothing with needles). We use distraction, sing songs, even can move a TV with his favorite video in. Constantly tell him how brave he is, what a good job he's doing, even if he's freaking out. Also, learning how to use the stack lock thing yourself as a parent; I watched the nurse do it, then had to walk the home care nurse through the dressing change. But it helped get through it. HTH

 

[Rebjane]

My daughter had a PICC with the stat lock about 2+ years ago. The nurse did have a hard time with it, seems hard to unlock(like you said) plus wear sterile gloves. The nurse was sweating when she was through. A couple ideas, request a nurse to changg the dressing who is their"best" IV nurse. There are always more skilled nurses and this is definately a skill. Have your son play with all the equipment, dressing stuff, PICC line stuff, he can play doctor(obviously nothing with needles). We use distraction, sing songs, even can move a TV with his favorite video in. Constantly tell him how brave he is, what a good job he's doing, even if he's freaking out. Also, learning how to use the stack lock thing yourself as a parent; I watched the nurse do it, then had to walk the home care nurse through the dressing change. But it helped get through it. HTH

 

[Rebjane]

My daughter had a PICC with the stat lock about 2+ years ago. The nurse did have a hard time with it, seems hard to unlock(like you said) plus wear sterile gloves. The nurse was sweating when she was through. A couple ideas, request a nurse to changg the dressing who is their"best" IV nurse. There are always more skilled nurses and this is definately a skill. Have your son play with all the equipment, dressing stuff, PICC line stuff, he can play doctor(obviously nothing with needles). We use distraction, sing songs, even can move a TV with his favorite video in. Constantly tell him how brave he is, what a good job he's doing, even if he's freaking out. Also, learning how to use the stack lock thing yourself as a parent; I watched the nurse do it, then had to walk the home care nurse through the dressing change. But it helped get through it. HTH

 

[Rebjane]

My daughter had a PICC with the stat lock about 2+ years ago. The nurse did have a hard time with it, seems hard to unlock(like you said) plus wear sterile gloves. The nurse was sweating when she was through. A couple ideas, request a nurse to changg the dressing who is their"best" IV nurse. There are always more skilled nurses and this is definately a skill. Have your son play with all the equipment, dressing stuff, PICC line stuff, he can play doctor(obviously nothing with needles). We use distraction, sing songs, even can move a TV with his favorite video in. Constantly tell him how brave he is, what a good job he's doing, even if he's freaking out. Also, learning how to use the stack lock thing yourself as a parent; I watched the nurse do it, then had to walk the home care nurse through the dressing change. But it helped get through it. HTH

 

[TonyaH]

Hi Folione,

We just went through the joy of a dressing change with the lock. Even my 9 year old hates the dressing change and freaked out, so don't feel like you are alone! I read a book while the nurse was doing her thing and tried to do some breathing with Andrew. All you can do is try to distract them. I do find that asking Andrew questions and trying to get him to focus on responding to me instead of his arm seemed to help. Good luck! What a way to spend Thanksgiving week, huh? My husband and I have tried to remember to be thankful that these meds are available to us today. While it's so hard to see our little ones go through all of this, at least we have options that were not available years ago.

 

[TonyaH]

Hi Folione,

We just went through the joy of a dressing change with the lock. Even my 9 year old hates the dressing change and freaked out, so don't feel like you are alone! I read a book while the nurse was doing her thing and tried to do some breathing with Andrew. All you can do is try to distract them. I do find that asking Andrew questions and trying to get him to focus on responding to me instead of his arm seemed to help. Good luck! What a way to spend Thanksgiving week, huh? My husband and I have tried to remember to be thankful that these meds are available to us today. While it's so hard to see our little ones go through all of this, at least we have options that were not available years ago.

 

[TonyaH]

Hi Folione,

We just went through the joy of a dressing change with the lock. Even my 9 year old hates the dressing change and freaked out, so don't feel like you are alone! I read a book while the nurse was doing her thing and tried to do some breathing with Andrew. All you can do is try to distract them. I do find that asking Andrew questions and trying to get him to focus on responding to me instead of his arm seemed to help. Good luck! What a way to spend Thanksgiving week, huh? My husband and I have tried to remember to be thankful that these meds are available to us today. While it's so hard to see our little ones go through all of this, at least we have options that were not available years ago.

 

[TonyaH]

Hi Folione,

We just went through the joy of a dressing change with the lock. Even my 9 year old hates the dressing change and freaked out, so don't feel like you are alone! I read a book while the nurse was doing her thing and tried to do some breathing with Andrew. All you can do is try to distract them. I do find that asking Andrew questions and trying to get him to focus on responding to me instead of his arm seemed to help. Good luck! What a way to spend Thanksgiving week, huh? My husband and I have tried to remember to be thankful that these meds are available to us today. While it's so hard to see our little ones go through all of this, at least we have options that were not available years ago.

 

[TonyaH]

Hi Folione,

We just went through the joy of a dressing change with the lock. Even my 9 year old hates the dressing change and freaked out, so don't feel like you are alone! I read a book while the nurse was doing her thing and tried to do some breathing with Andrew. All you can do is try to distract them. I do find that asking Andrew questions and trying to get him to focus on responding to me instead of his arm seemed to help. Good luck! What a way to spend Thanksgiving week, huh? My husband and I have tried to remember to be thankful that these meds are available to us today. While it's so hard to see our little ones go through all of this, at least we have options that were not available years ago.

 

[folione]

Update: Since I did not hear much here, I called the manufacturer of Statlocks and asked them how the nurse is supposed to get those cap & post style devices off. They said the nurse needs to use a hemostat to snap off the mushroomed top of the post. I'm planning to ask the PICC insertion staff next week which type of hemostat they think works - when I looked at hemostats available on a medical supply web site, there were dozens of different types.

Anyway, for what it might be worth that's the word from the source....I hope it works.

 

[folione]

Update: Since I did not hear much here, I called the manufacturer of Statlocks and asked them how the nurse is supposed to get those cap & post style devices off. They said the nurse needs to use a hemostat to snap off the mushroomed top of the post. I'm planning to ask the PICC insertion staff next week which type of hemostat they think works - when I looked at hemostats available on a medical supply web site, there were dozens of different types.

Anyway, for what it might be worth that's the word from the source....I hope it works.

 

[folione]

Update: Since I did not hear much here, I called the manufacturer of Statlocks and asked them how the nurse is supposed to get those cap & post style devices off. They said the nurse needs to use a hemostat to snap off the mushroomed top of the post. I'm planning to ask the PICC insertion staff next week which type of hemostat they think works - when I looked at hemostats available on a medical supply web site, there were dozens of different types.

Anyway, for what it might be worth that's the word from the source....I hope it works.

 

[folione]

Update: Since I did not hear much here, I called the manufacturer of Statlocks and asked them how the nurse is supposed to get those cap & post style devices off. They said the nurse needs to use a hemostat to snap off the mushroomed top of the post. I'm planning to ask the PICC insertion staff next week which type of hemostat they think works - when I looked at hemostats available on a medical supply web site, there were dozens of different types.

Anyway, for what it might be worth that's the word from the source....I hope it works.

 

[folione]

Update: Since I did not hear much here, I called the manufacturer of Statlocks and asked them how the nurse is supposed to get those cap & post style devices off. They said the nurse needs to use a hemostat to snap off the mushroomed top of the post. I'm planning to ask the PICC insertion staff next week which type of hemostat they think works - when I looked at hemostats available on a medical supply web site, there were dozens of different types.

Anyway, for what it might be worth that's the word from the source....I hope it works.