Peripheral venous catheter

Introduction Intravenous infusion therapy is an infusion of fluids directly into the patient’s bloodstream via a vein using an intravenous catheter. It is frequently used in hospital settings for patients that require a rapid onset of medication and for those who are unable to receive medications orally. According to Adams and Urban (2012), intravenous (IV) infusion is considered to be the most dangerous route of receiving medications because medication cannot be retrieved once it enters the bloodstream. Patients receiving IV infusion therapy require close monitoring for adverse reactions, which can happen immediately or it can take a couple of days for it to take effect. There are three types of IV administrations: large volume infusions,…

Phlebitis As each patient prepares for their stay in the hospital, majority of them will have an intravenous catheter inserted for fast and easy infusing of medications, fluids, and/or blood products when needed. Inflammation of the vein’s walls where the IV is placed on the hand or arm is termed at phlebitis. Phlebitis is the most common complication of IV infusions and occurs in 30% of patients that are receiving infusions within the hospital (Mullen & Mullen, 2007). Majority of the cases are…

In the article “A controlled trial of smart infusion pumps to improve medication safety in critically ill patients” the authors, Rothschild et al., identified the need to improve medication administrations through the use of intravenous pumps (2005). The goal of the research study was to assess medication errors, the causes for the errors, how smart pumps impacted (both negatively and positively) medication errors, and how patient safety can be improved. They recognized that little research…

ABSTRACT The use of peripherally inserted central catheter lines for central venous access in patients has increased in recent years despite a lack of evidence regarding safety. A recent survey of invasive catheter practices among patients in the United States found that 37% of terminally ill patients use peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC lines) as part of their treatment protocol. The goal of this paper is to inform the reader about the safety, teaching, and care of peripherally…

Standardizing central venous catheter care: hospital to home The guideline for Standardizing central venous catheter care: hospital to home was obtained from the National Guideline Clearinghouse. This guideline standardizes care of the central line to ensure continuity of care and decrease complications. Central line infection and thrombosis cause thousands of deaths each year and increases medical costs (CDC). Proper care of the central line utilizing antibacterial dressings, passive…

Children’s of Alabama has medication precautions, fall risk precautions, and a “Do Not Use” list in place to protect patients. SBAR is used to effectively communicate patient and nursing needs to physicians. Pharmacy and the nursing staff verify medications before the medication is ever administrated to patients, to reduce errors. Call-lights are in place for patients to alert employees to wants and needs. Nursing Informatics help implement and educate employees on electronic charting.…

We discussed the importance of wanting to reduce CLABSIs and that it is a great topic of choice, seeing as how most oncology patients have a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC), Central line, or a Hickman catheter. It is essential to keep in mind that these lines are accessed multiple times throughout the day and the more you access them the more likely it is to induce bacteria in the lines. One major component to think about it how oncology patients are immunocompromised, so we need…

Management of Central Lines Sarah Dunbar, Lourie Grijalva, Brittany Matthews, Megen Price, & Lauren Sapp Introduction According to the Joint Commission (2012, p. v), Central Venous Catheters (CVCs) are the most frequent cause of healthcare-associated bloodstream infections, and about 3 million are placed in the United States annually. A central line associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) is an infection in the blood that develops as a result of introducing bacteria into these…

standard of emergency care, and is an essential part of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in many groups of patients. Peripheral vascular access is the most efficient means of gaining vascular access as it’s induces minimal trauma, is the safest method of gaining access to venous circulation. It may however be difficult in stressful situations and require several attempts despite its widespread usage failure may result in prehospital resuscitation leading to significant time delays (Dubick, 2000).…

Southworth and three other RN co-worker in their article; The Journey to Zero Central Catheter–Associated Bloodstream Infection Culture Change in an Intensive Care Unit. take a step to bring their CLABSI rate to zero: Transparency and communication with all levels of personnel are imperative to success. Everyone is accountable for making and sustaining the outcomes. Our journey to zero continues. (Sheri L. Southworth RN, 2012) The other similarity of these articles is concentrated attention…