[black small square] In a recent column, you pointed out some common practices involving needleless I.V. systems that increase infection risks ("Medication Administration: Is Risking Infection an Error?" Medication Errors, November 2007).* These practices include failing to place a sterile cap on the tip of a reusable I.V. administration set and "looping" (attaching the exposed end of I.V. tubing to a port on the same tubing instead of applying a sterile cap).

Why not ask manufacturers of saline flush syringes to design the syringe caps so they'd also fit on the end of I.V. tubing? After flushing the line, you'd simply apply the syringe cap to the I.V. line. The inside of the cap, previously used to maintain syringe tip sterility, would still be sterile-plus you'd be reusing the cap rather than throwing it away. Problem solved!!

PATRICIA JACOBSON, RN, BC

New Milford, Conn.

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