Research study on Prevalance of Phlebitis among patient with Peripheral Vascular Cath

[angelynapeter]

Dear all,

I am new to research studies. Currently, i am starting small with this topic" Prevalence of phlebitis among patients with peripheral vascular catheter(PVC) among patients in surgical wards". I am trying to form some sort of a questionaire/observational form for collecting data from the patients.. Any idea?

Thank you

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

You need to look at the factors that contribute to phlebitis

1. size,location and quality of the vein

2. Skill of the inserter

3. Type of securement used..this is very important if the catheter is not secured well and the tension is on the site and not on the tubing of the IV system....the vein will get irritated much faster among other problems

4 Type of infusate and medications....anything with a ph of less than 9 or greater than 9 is going to more irritating to the vein.. also anything with an osmolarity of less than 600 mOsm/L will also irritate..blood is about 280..so great extremes will effect the vein

5 patients co-morbidities ..Diabetics pt with hx of IVDA.. etc...will tend to have more problems with phlebitis b/c theri veins are awful to begin with

6. size and length of the catheter..the larger and longer..generally more problems

7 Dwell time

So look at what causes the problem...chemical irritation.....mechanical irritation.I am sure I can add to this list but this is what comes to mind quickly...I have a phlebitis chart I made with all the risk factors at my office

[PICC ACE]

This should be a fairly straight-forward study,especially since it sounds like you are limitting it to one floor.

First of all,do plenty of Googling and medline research so you don't waste time 'reinventing the wheel'. This should also give you ideas on how other phlebitis studies have been set up.

Next,make sure you become very familiar with the phleblitis scale as described in the INS SOP's. Then you need to decide when and how frequently to assess the IV sites on the patients to get a large enough sample to be significant. Will you be able/need to do it every day for a 3-month period,every Tuesday AM for a few months,etc.

This will establish your prevalence. (I would not leave this data collection to the floor nurses as they generally,and sadly,lack the experience and training to evaluate such things accurately and consistently.)

The factors listed by iluvit should be included in your data collection (for all pt's,not just those who show any evidence of phlebitis) for you to draw meaningful conclusions from your study.

Good luck,

Z.

[angelynapeter]

Thank you very much for the comments & suggestions!

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

if you send me a Private message with your e mail I will send you the phlebitis tool I have already created...also in addition to chemical and mechanical causes there is also infectious causes....the other thing that also really needs to be included is the type of catheter being used and specifically what is made of ...also females tend to have higher rates so you need to include that in your data collection

[angelynapeter]

Hi!

Thank you again ! Here's my e-mail: [email protected]

I can also be contacted via the facebook;just look for Pauline Angelyna Peter

Regards. :)

[hamayun2012]

Frequency of Phelbitis among patients recieving IV therapy.

If i get tool to assess it I willl be very thankful to You

@[email protected]

[sauconyrunner]

if you are just looking at the prevalence of it...well your infection prevention RN can give you that data. no need to make a study of it. I track this daily.

[sauconyrunner]

Ooh but if you need to make a study, for whatever reason, then by all means, go ahead....you might want to ask the Infection Preventionist about how he or she tracks it at your hospital. I am exceedingly lucky that we use an automated system....

[dakai6939]

Hello to all,

i would like to know if you consider PICC lines, external jugular lines as part of the PIV prevalence since they are peripherally inserted.

will you include these factors as part of the sampling.

thank you.

[dakai6939]

thank you for your very informative comments

i would like to ask you if you can share with me your Phlebitis chart.

i am developing a tool for a prevalence of phlebitis that involve several units such as med surg, critical care, OB AND PEDS.