Accessing and De-accessing an Implanted Port

This video will show you the general principles on how your port will be cared for, but is not intended to teach you how to access your port.

All healthcare providers, usually a nurse, who access or insert the needle into the port have been trained on the sterile technique and proper care. However, there may be subtle differences in how they do this. It is important that you know how the catheter should be cared for. It is also important that you speak up if something seems different from usual.

[kgrfirdjy]

I just had a port a cath installed yesterday and am glad to see this. It’s been years since I accessed one as a nurse. I don’t have cancer, but need monthly IVIG, Iv iron, & await a pancreas transplant.

[lisa]

From someone with a port..do not press on it! That hurts! It bleeds very little when the needle is pulled out. Just put a bandaid on it and call it a day. No need for pressure...its not gushing blood.
I also get all blood draws through my port. No IV sticks. It's also been used during surgeries...
I tell people all the time..I love my port! Best decision ever.

[jamestuccillo]

Man Mike looks like Dexter Morgan & Joey Biden had a kid! The blank stare & obviously reading from something!!

[gdl]

This was a very helpful video regarding my new Port and Chemo treatment.  I wish I had seen this before I had the Port inserted and then accessed.  Thank you.

[alicek]

As a patient with a port, after removing the needle, please don't apply pressure to stop bleeding! It HURTS! And it is not necessary. Just tape gauze on top and it will stop on its own. Thanks!

[jessicamathews]

Omg I’m at MAINE Med right now and I have a port and dorice is a really nice nurse

[kiara]

I have sickle cell disease. I had mine accessed yesterday for my Adakveo treatment which is to lessen the amount of sickle cell crisis(es) that occur.

I don't use any type of numbing meds at all.

Do not ever allow anyone to access your port with an alcohol swab or pad.. it has to be Chlorohexidene... not sure if I spelled that right.

I don't have veins so my port is used when I see my hemoc doc or in the ER for IV meds, labs, and transfusions.

When the nurses at my hemoc doc access it they ALWAYS get it in on the first stuck BUT last week when I had to go to the ER the nurse lied about being able to access a port and stuck me in my right. She took the needle out & again the same thing. She proceeded to say I needed a new port amongst other rude things because of her messing up YET When a dif nurse came in to do it she had no issues plus got great blood return which my port has always been easy to access & get blood from. She was pushing down hard on it as well..
I was already in excruciating pain from the sickle cell crisis & being stuck 3 times def didn't help.

As they stated in the vid do not hesitate to speak up or ask questions! Having knowledge about your port is a good thing!

[annalitasicat]

Thank u for this..as a nursing student i easily understand this procedure

[Lorac]

Where do we get this "Port Passport/Passbook"? It's sounds like an excellent thing to have as a log of when your port is accessed and if there were any problems, how the issues were resolved, when it was checked with X-rays, etc.
I was not given anything like this and no one I've talked to has ever heard of such a log.

[zac]

Very informative. I wish I could see how the needle is inserted and removed

[IamRose]

I get admitted frequently through the ER and I'm having a port placed in 3 days. I'm wondering if all nurses are knowledgeable with accessing ports or if I'm going to run into problems with people not knowing what to do.

[Esalem]

My port only bleeds when a nurse applys pressure to it. I truly don't think pressure is needed with a port. It's not a IV. Not to mention it hurts.

[susansnay]

I would also like to see how the needle goes in because of the way the needle is angled at the end.

[tatoyahafeez]

Hello thanks for the vedio its really informative .. a port have been inserted to my grandma am asking can i use it again after 3 years scince insertion!

[lesliehyde]

I know that they sasaid that only a nurse or other healthcare professional, but what about those patients (like me) who has been given approval and authorization for doing port care ourselves (patients)????

[donnasanchez]

I've had my infuseport in 2005 and because my primary failed to consult with the surgeon in a timely manner, I was told by the surgeon that he could not remove it. So, here we are in 2020 and I still have my port. Not once did a nurse wash her hands in front of me in my hospital room, but everything else you have explained here in your video is correct. Now, what your video does not show is how painful accessing the port can be for patients such as myself or maybe over time the area has become sensitive. However, do you have a video that shows how nurses should access a port that is very positional?

[texaseregistered]

There are several RN on this video but none of them noticed/know that saline flush is not sterile and therefore should not have been placed on the sterile-field or touched by the sterile gloves?

[jermaine]

If they opened the saline flush while sterile wouldnt that break the sterile field ?

[beardrn]

This video was useless. The insertion wasn't shown. Neither was the removal of the needle. Both of these critical moments were not filmed.

[tdtadesse]

Watching as an ED RN cuz I feel bad poking around my cancer pts 😢