Home Parenteral Care

This section contains pictures and description of weekly supplies used for my TPN

Having the knowledge and availability of the supplies best suited to your home parenteral needs/care is paramount. Your health agency might carry one or more brands of certain supplies and not others, there is a wide range of products being made by different companies and hence the inventory of these supplies differs for every person using them. If you find a supply that you want to try but your home health agency does not carry it, you can always request them to special order it for you. Our agency does that for us which is why we are with them. Also, among the supplies, there are various different brands, for e.g. there are many different brands of dressings available, similarly many types of caps and tubing. So, if you feel that there is something that is not working for you or your skin, do your own research and also talk to your company about other brands. As an e.g., when I started TPN, I was given the tegaderm dressing that comes by default in the dressing kit. This dressing did not suit my skin at all and I tried a couple of more dressings including the IV 3000 before I found Sorbaview and wound dressing called Mepilex border lite that worked best for me for a long time. Another e.g. is of the skinprep. It is a product which puts a clear coating on your skin that protects your skin from the adhesive of the dressing. A lot of people are sensitive/allergic to the adhesive on the dressing. Since the skinprep is not a part of the dressing kit, my skin continued to suffer and got rashes until I spoke to my company and they sent me the skinprep. Since then, I have had no issues. So, please don't hesitate. Talk to your nurse and the supply provider in your company. Do your own research and share that information with them. If they are as open minded as my company has been, they would be willing to order that product for you. Before using your supplies, make sure they are well packaged and not expired and always store them in a clean area of your house.

Click on the image for larger view (supplies that I use)

multivitamin vials and/or other medication

BD 10 ml syringe with sharp needle attached, use with caution and always toss it in the sharps box

Duracell 9V CADD battery, pump uses single battery good for 24 hrs

Duracell 1.5V Curlin battery, pump uses two batteries good for 24 hrs

CADD 118 inch infusion set / tubing

Curlin 99 inch infusion set / tubing

Vygon 400 cm coiled tubing

MS402 36 inch extension set

MS404 60 inch microbore extension set

10 ml normal saline flush

10 ml heparin lock flush

200 large alcohol prep box, comes in small size as well

100 medium non-sterile gloves box

small swab caps for the hub safety

sharps box to dispose used needles, scissor, syringe etc

stockinette medical is used to cover the picc line and comes in cotton, nylon and polyester material

kimberly clark face mask box

sterile towel drape used for all home care tasks

central line dressing change kit, different kinds available with needed contents

griplok is a securement device that comes in small, medium and large sizes to secure lines, tubing and catheters of different diameters in size

3 sterile alcohol swabsticks used to clean the skin

adhesive tape remover pad used along edges of tapes and dressings to remove it without harming the skin

skin-prep is a liquid film-forming dressing that upon application to intact skin, forms a protective film to help reduce friction during removal of tapes and films

sorbaview 2000 window dressing that provides multiple layers of comfort to the skin, available in different shapes and sizes

maxplus needleless connector caps for single or double lumens

biopatch is a protective disk with CHG that provides antimicrobial protection to the skin surrounding the catheter insertion site, including the skin beneath the lumen

Steri Strips are thin adhesive strips which can be used to close small wounds, may be used instead of sutures (stitches) in some injuries, because they lessen scarring and are easier to care for.