Nurses Receive PICC Training

Jessica Thomassen, RN and Tracy Ludwig, RN

West Holt Medical Services Foundation assisted with the training expenses for Registered Nurses, Jessica Thomassen and Tracy Ludwig, to become certified in placing peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC lines) using the SITE RITE 6 Ultrasound System. 

West Holt Medical Services recently purchased the SITE Rite 6 Ultrasound System which is the latest technology in ultrasound guided needle placement. Thomassen and Ludwig received certification after performing online training followed by clinical hands on training. The clinical training was completed at the 1000+bed Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, NC where both Jessica Thomassen, RN and Tracy Ludwig, RN nurses spent a week placing PICC lines and other difficult IV’s using the Site Rite 6 technology. 

A PICC line is a catheter inserted into a vein in the upper arm then threaded to a large vessel just above the heart called the Superior Vena Cava. The portability of the Site Rite 6 allows the PICC line to be placed at the bedside. PICC lines are beneficial for patients receiving long term intravenous (IV) therapies such as nutrition, antibiotics and chemotherapy. 

In addition to being able to infuse medications through the line, blood may also be drawn from it for patients lab work. PICC lines can remain in place for up to one year when properly maintained which saves patients multiple sticks for lab work and repeated IV starts. 

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