Do nurses change a child's peripheral intravenous catheter when clinically indicated?
Sammanfattning
Aim The aim of this study was to investigate if nurses change a child’s peripheral intravenous
catheter when clinically indicated.
Background Today, inserting a peripheral intravenous catheter is a common procedure in hospital
care, but this can be painful and traumatic for children. There are guidelines when to change the
peripheral catheter in adults, but no similar guidelines was found concerning children. A Cochrane
review from 2010 concludes that the policy should be to change the peripheral intravenous catheter
when clinically indicated. This includes phlebitis, but also pain, redness, infiltration, swelling,
leakage and blockage.
Method The design was prospective and observational. Daily observations were made at the hospital
by one of the researchers and notes were made in a protocol.
Findings Thirty-three children with a total of 47 peripheral intravenous catheters participated, and 104
observations were made. Of the children, 42% (14/33) developed complications. Among the children
with phlebitis grade 2 and 3, the nurses did not change the peripherala intravenous catheter when
clinically indicated.
Conclusion This study shows that phlebitis occurs in children with a peripheral intravenous catheter
and the PIC were not changed when clinically indicated. It is the professional’s responsibility to
reduce the painful experiences for children during hospital care, and more research concerning
nurses’ clinical decisions needs to be conducted.