Miss Chiane Marshall1, Mrs Janine Carrucan1
1Townsville University Hospital, Townsville, Australia
What was the issue?
- With the introduction of the ‘Management of Peripheral Intravenous Catheter (PIVC) Clinical Care Standard’, the THHS identified gaps in meeting the new standard.
- There was a significant increase in hospital acquired bloodstream infections (HA-BSIs) attributable to PIVCs from 1 case in 2020 to 10 cases in the following year, with majority attributed to the medical and surgical inpatient wards.
- There was a lack of evidence that patient education regarding PIVC cares was being achieved in alignment with the PIVC Clinical Care Standard Quality Statement 2: Inform and Partner with Consumers.
- There was a lack of compliance with appropriate PIVC documentation potentially contributing to the increased BSI rates and resulting in difficult BSI investigations.
What are our objectives?
- To increase compliance with PIVC documentation
- To enhance patient education
- To reduce the number of HA-BSIs related to PIVCs
- Increase nurse capacity to provide safe care in relation to PIVCs
How are we tackling the problem?
We conducted a six-month quality improvement activity which included the following:
- PIVC education for consumers using a consumer brochure
- PIVC ward-based in-services
- Policy and clinical competency assessment updates to reflect the Clinical Care Standard
- PIVC ‘working group’
- Regular audits of PIVC documentation with feedback to the units
What are the results?
- Results will be available in September for review.
What’s next?
- Pending results
Biography: Chiane Marshall is a novice Clinical Nurse in the infection prevention and control team at The Townsville Hospital. Chi has a surgical background which she utilises to implement ward-based initiatives to enhance quality and safety.
Janine Carrucan is an experienced registered nurse at The Townsville Hospital and Health in north Queensland currently the Nursing Director for the Infection Prevention & Control program and Standard 3 lead. This includes a 650 bed tertiary referral hospital, 7 rural hospitals and 2 aged care facilities.