Wrapped in care

Donor-funded wraps help patients like Liliana safely move around and play

Donor funds provide wraps that help prevent infections

At Cook Children’s, we are constantly looking for ways to create positive patient experiences. Sometimes, that means anticipating potential problems and addressing them before they can even happen.

That is exactly why a group of nurses requested CareAline® sleeves and wraps for our patients with central venous lines (also known as central lines), such as peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) lines. PICC lines are long, flexible tubes that are inserted in the veins in a patient’s arm and passed through to the larger veins near the heart. They’re used to administer medications or fluids and eliminate the need for frequent, sometimes painful, needle sticks.

“We saw [the sleeves] at conferences and wanted to try them to help protect our patients’ central lines from infection, breakage and accidental dislodgement,” said Kathy Grieser, RN, BSN, VA-BC, Cook Children’s nurse manager on the Vascular Access Team.

It’s important to keep these tubes protected, especially from babies and toddlers who may want to put them in their mouth or even chew holes in them. The wraps are also helpful for active patients who may play with the tubes or run with them and put tension on the tubing.

CareAline sleeves and wraps keep central lines covered and secured. They keep germs from getting into the connections and help keep tension off the tubing. They can easily be put on and taken off without disconnecting the line. Best of all, they are soft and comfortable for our patients to wear. By adding this extra layer of protection, we can help decrease the chance of infection and the need to place new lines, which can be uncomfortable and stressful for the kids and also costly.

Thanks to funds from Cook Children’s Employees Care program, we can provide CareAline sleeves and wraps to young, active patients with central lines. With this simple item, we are helping keep our patients safe and giving their caregivers one less thing to worry about.

“A young patient was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in the summer of 2022. She had a central line placed at the time of her initial diagnosis. I provided the patient’s mom with a CareAline for her to use at home. This mom loved how much it hid her daughter’s central line while at home, keeping it out of her daughter’s sight and mind.

This patient’s mom told another new AML patient about the CareAline before I could even show it to the family. By the time I brought the new family the CareAline for their child, they were already so excited to get theirs because of how much the other mom raved about it.

The patient I gave the first wrap to received her last chemotherapy in April 2023. She still has the first CareAline I gave her, an entire year later. She had her central line removed and will no longer need her CareAline at home, but her mom still informs our other families about how much she loves the CareAline and tells them to ask for one as well.”

Wrapped in care

Donor funds provide wraps that help prevent infections

This patient’s mom told another new AML patient about the CareAline before I could even show it to the family. By the time I brought the new family the CareAline for their child, they were already so excited to get theirs because of how much the other mom raved about it.

– Josephine Camus, RN