{"id":7781,"date":"2024-05-13T10:10:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T08:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eu.bd.com\/iv-news\/?p=7781"},"modified":"2024-05-13T10:09:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T08:09:34","slug":"international-nurses-day-empowering-nurses-in-vascular-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eu.bd.com\/iv-news\/news-innovation\/international-nurses-day-empowering-nurses-in-vascular-access\/","title":{"rendered":"International Nurses Day: empowering nurses in vascular access"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy International Nurses Day to all nurses out there!<\/p>\n

Nursing can sometimes be undervalued by healthcare leaders, policy makers and society at large.1<\/sup> The International Council of Nurses chose the economic power of care as the theme for this year\u2019s International Nurses Day.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

The aim is to create a paradigm shift by \u201cdemonstrating how strategic investment in nursing can bring considerable economic and societal benefits.\u201d1<\/sup> On a day that honours nurses around the world, we ask the question: Can nurse-led intravenous (IV) teams empower nurses?<\/p>\n

Nurse empowerment relies, in part, on mobilisation of resources.2<\/sup> For Mudallal et al., \u201c\u2026power is the ability to attain, organise, and control resources, information and support to achieve organisational goals\u201d3<\/sup> in a work environment. Leader empowering behaviours can have an impact on worker performance and workplace empowerment.3<\/sup><\/p>\n

Five potential benefits of leader empowering behaviours:3<\/sup><\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Enhanced work meaningfulness<\/li>\n
  2. Increased participation in the decision-making process<\/li>\n
  3. Recognition for high-performance<\/li>\n
  4. Improved attainment of organisational goals<\/li>\n
  5. Autonomy and freedom from bureaucratic barriers<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    When nurses take ownership of vascular access management (VAM) with their holistic view of the patient, time from vascular access device (VAD) referral to placement is reduced with nurse-led central venous catheter (CVC) teams,4<\/sup> while patient satisfaction increases during nurse-led peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) insertion when compared with radiologists.5<\/sup><\/p>\n

    Nurse-led VATs may help increase the economic power of healthcare facilities by reducing IV complications.6<\/sup> They may also have a positive impact on patient safety and satisfaction, while increasing organisational efficiencies.7<\/sup><\/p>\n

    In healthcare facilities where VATs haven\u2019t been implemented yet, the following stories may inspire those with the goal of creating a specialised IV team of their own.<\/p>\n

    More on this topic: <\/strong>Invisible to invaluable: Honouring International Nurses Day<\/a><\/p>\n

    International Nurses Day: Empowering nurses with a midline team in Poland<\/h2>\n

    Multiple insertion attempts in small veins can lead to significant distress in patients and can be time-consuming for healthcare professionals (HCPs) who place VADs.5<\/sup><\/p>\n

    It may be difficult to place an implantable port in patients with certain kinds of neck cancer because of tumour location.8<\/sup> Midline catheters and PICCs may be suitable alternatives to centrally inserted central catheters (CICCs) in certain clinical situations.8<\/sup><\/p>\n

    Let\u2019s head to Poland to meet Maciej Latos<\/a>, a nurse practitioner in the intensive care unit (ICU) at the Medical University of Warsaw (MUW) Hospital. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Latos was caring for patients with respiratory failure who didn\u2019t always require a CVC, but still needed reliable vascular access.9<\/sup><\/p>\n

    ICU colleagues suggested he place midline catheters as an alternative to CVCs.9<\/sup> Midline catheters are indicated for IV therapy lasting up to 4 weeks.8<\/sup> Mr Latos and his colleagues developed a protocol and nursing staff were trained on midline echo-guided insertion.9<\/sup><\/p>\n

    At first, midlines were only placed in patients with difficult venous access (DIVA).9<\/sup> But they soon expanded midline insertion to patients without DIVA as well.9<\/sup><\/p>\n

    A team of nurses at the MUW Hospital was then trained to place peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) using ultrasound guidance.9<\/sup> Their IV team is made up of 10 nurses and 3 physicians.9<\/sup> It has inspired other hospitals in Poland to develop their own teams.9<\/sup><\/p>\n

    International Nurses Day: Empowering nurses with a PICC team in Czechia<\/h2>\n

    Now, let\u2019s discover how the first PICC team in Czechia was implemented. Six nurses at the Faculty Hospital Prague Motol in Prague attended a 3-month training programme to learn PICC and midline catheter placement using ultrasound, electrocardiogramme (ECG) and fluoroscopic navigation.8<\/sup><\/p>\n

    Ultrasound guidance was used by two of the six members of the team to place these catheters.8<\/sup> Lisova et al. conducted a study on this PICC team.8<\/sup> During the study period, they placed a total of 167 PICCs and 162 midline catheters.8<\/sup><\/p>\n

    PICC complication rates tend to be higher in healthcare facilities without a dedicated PICC team.5<\/sup> Complication rates for PICCs placed in this hospital were comparable to rates reported in the literature, as well as complication rates for PICCs placed by Czech physicians.8<\/sup><\/p>\n

    Andrew Barton, Chair of the National Infusion and Vascular Access Society (NIVAS) recommends a PICC team made up of two specially trained nurses and a clinical assistant as a starting place for a specialised IV team.7<\/sup><\/p>\n

    Beyond midline and PICC teams on International Nurses Day<\/h2>\n

    Once a midline or PICC team is established, nurses may be empowered to expand the service to a full VAT. This expanded team would include an assessment process, tool and an algorithm, as well as HCPs from different medical fields.7,10<\/sup><\/p>\n

    Nurses on VATs reported:10,11<\/sup><\/h3>\n