Peripheral Line

Michael had a central line with four lumens surgically implanted in his neck on March 25 just after his was intubated. The central line is a site for IV's which go into the jugular. He also had an arterial line placed in his right wrist and a peripheral line placed in his right arm. He was receiving many IVs during his stay in the ICU.
The central line and arterial line were removed before his transfer to Select Specialty Hospital. A peripheral line was placed in his left arm just before the central line was removed. It is very important for the hospital staff to have IV access on a patient on a respirator. If something goes wrong they can quickly act by giving medication and fluids. IV access can mean the difference between life and death in a critically ill patient.
I had asked the nurse to put the peripheral line in Michael's left arm because he is right handed. They had put his arterial line in his right arm and this prevented movement of his arm/hand. The doctor tried to put the arterial line near Michael's left wrist, but he was unable to get proper access, so it was placed in the right wrist. When Michael regained consciousness I knew he would want to use his right hand.
IV lines must be flushed with saline daily and need to be removed after 3 days. Michael's peripheral line was placed before he left the ICU. I asked about having it replaced when he got to Select. I was told that it was fine because it was able to intake fluids. I did not noticed any sign of infection, discomfort or misplacement so I stopped complaining. He has been at Select for over a week.
Today his line was removed and replaced with another peripheral line. The nurse said that it should be replaced every three days. She told Michael to tell the nurses to flush it each day! I said the staff is responsible for IV maintenance, not the patient! She said she would pass along the information during report this evening. I wrote a note on Michael's white board to flush his line daily and change it on May 1.
Michael wanted the line to be removed, I told him that would be possible when he is medically stable.