Health Promotion and Maintenance NCLEX RN Questions Related

Review Health Promotion and Maintenance NCLEX RN Questions related questions and content

A healthcare professional is preparing to draw a blood specimen from an adult client's central line. All of the following actions for this procedure are correct EXCEPT:

  • A. Disconnect the current infusion
  • B. Clean the cap with alcohol and attach a 5 cc syringe
  • C. Draw 5 cc of a blood sample to discard
  • D. Flush with saline after the sample
Correct Answer: B

Rationale: When drawing a blood specimen from a central line, the healthcare professional should disconnect any infusions that are currently running and that could contaminate the specimen. It is important to use a minimum size of a 10 cc syringe when using a central line to avoid placing too much pressure on the catheter. Cleaning the cap with alcohol and attaching a 5 cc syringe is not appropriate as a larger syringe size should be used for this procedure. Drawing 5 cc of a blood sample to discard and flushing with saline after the sample are correct steps in the process of drawing a blood specimen from a central line.