You have a Central Venous Access Device (CVAD)
Date issued: November 2023
Review date: November 2025
Ref: C-551/MA/Learning Disability Team/You have a Central Venous Access Device (CVAD)
PDF: You have a Central Venous Access Device.pdf [pdf] 232KB
You need, or have a Central Venous Access Device (CVAD):
You may have heard your doctor or nurse say you need a CVAD, or you may already have a CVAD.
This is a funny sounding word; this is how you say it: see-fad.
There are different reasons for needing a CVAD
Your body needs:
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Antibiotics
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Intravenous (IV) fluids
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Liquid food called TPN if you are not able to eat
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Blood transfusions
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You need medicine through a drip as it does not come in a tablet.
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You will be provided with a Patient Passport. The details of your CVAD will be in here.
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Please keep this. Bring this to all hospital appointments/admissions.
It is okay to:
Ask questions about your CVAD.
If you wish you can write or draw these.
Having a Central Venous Access Device (CVAD) can have risks, like an infection:
What you can do to help:
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Make sure your dressing is stuck down.
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Do not fiddle with the dressing or CV AD line.
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Your nurse will check the dressing each day.
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Tell the nurse if the dressing is loose.
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The dressing is waterproof but try not to get this too wet.
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Your nurse will talk to you about how to keep the dressing dry.
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Please tell your nurse or doctor if:
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You feel any pain where the CVAD has been put in.
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Your skin goes red, feels hot or itchy.
What we do to prevent your CVAD getting infected
We will always wash our hands before touching your CVAD. We are happy for you to ask if we have cleaned our hands.
The nurse will be wearing clean gloves and an apron.
Each time we use your CVAD we will ‘scrub the hub’. This is where we will clean the hub of the CVAD for 30 seconds. We will then let the hub fully air dry for 30 seconds.
The hub is the end of the CVAD’s line.
