Intravascular device use, management, documentation and complications: a point prevalence survey.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the use, management, documentation and complications for intravascular devices in cardiac, medical and surgical inpatients.

METHODS

A point prevalence survey was undertaken in a large tertiary hospital in Queensland. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data.

RESULTS

Of the 327 patients assessed, 192 (58.7%) had one or more devices in situ. Of the 220 devices, 190 (86.4%) were peripheral venous catheters, 25 (11.4%) were peripherally inserted central catheters and five (2.3%) were central venous catheters. Sixty-two of 220 devices (28.2%) were in situ without a clear purpose, whereas 54 (24.7%) had one or more complications, such as redness, pain, tracking, oedema or oozing. There was no documentation on the daily patient care record to indicate that a site assessment had occurred within the past 8h for 25% of the devices in situ.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study identified several problems and highlighted areas for improvement in the management and documentation for intravascular devices. Ongoing education, promoting good clinical practice and reauditing, can be applied to improve the management of devices.