Dr Sarah Berger2, Kerry Winchester1, Rommel Principe1, Elizabeth Culverwell1
1Canterbury DHB, Christchurch,, New Zealand
2Centre for Postgraduate Nursing Studies, University of Otago Christchurch Campus, Christchurch,, New Zealand
Aim: To determine prevalence and policy adherence for PIVC in adult inpatients at a tertiary care university hospital (with about 83,000 inpatient admissions annually).
Design: Observational point prevalence study.
Methods: Study undertaken on all adult acute care medical, surgical and oncology wards. Data were collected by senior registered nurses working in pairs on a single day. Descriptive statistics used to analyse data. SQUIRE 2.0 checklist for quality improvement reporting used.
Results: Of 449 adult inpatients in 19 wards on survey day, 197 had one or more PIVC in situ. Total PIVC in-situ n=212. PIVC Prevalence was 47%. PIVC were inserted in points of flexion such as antecubital fossa, back of hand or wrist in 52% of patients. Only 19% of cases had documented assessment of 8-hourly visual infusion phlebitis (VIP) score. Patients had local signs of phlebitis in 14.4% of cases. 44% of patients were not aware of the reason/need for their PIVC.
Conclusions: Poor adherence to best practice standards is ‘accepted but unacceptable’. PIVC failure is costly to both patients and health systems. A strong focus on improvement in PIVC care and healthcare associated infection prevention is needed.
Background: Up to 80% of hospitalised patients receive intravenous therapy, most commonly via peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVC). However, these devices are not risk-free with complications resulting from one of five basic pathological processes causing PIVC failure i.e. phlebitis, extravasation, infiltration, dislodgement, occlusion and localised or systemic infection.
Biography: Dr Sarah Berger is the Nursing Director for the Infection Prevention and Control Service in Canterbury, New Zealand and brings a wealth of clinical, teaching and research experience to her role.
Sarah is passionate about improving collaboration among members of health care teams in the interest of patient safety and improved patient outcomes.
Sarah is an Associate Editor with the Journal of Interprofessional Care, a leading publication in the field of interprofessional research in health and social care including education and collaborative practice