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FACULTY FOCUS our work over many years looking at whether peripheral intravenous catheters could be safely left in place longer than three days.
When we undertook five randomised controlled trials, as well as systematic literature reviews and meta-analysis, we showed quite clearly that there was no benefit to patients in routinely removing peripheral IVs every three days. All it did was double the number of procedures for patients – painful procedures. Of course, nursing time and hospital costs were also increased, and we found absolutely no difference in rates of vein irritation, occlusion, dislodgement or bloodstream infections when catheters are treated with good clinical common sense.
That’ s always been the way they’ ve been [ handled ] in children, in pediatrics, so it was just confirming that we should extend that same courtesy and care to adult patients.
What are the key areas of research you are working on, and how do you hope this will influence nursing practice? We know complications are rife in all sorts of IV devices. From 25 – 50 per cent of catheters fail before their treatment is complete. That interrupts treatment, and causes painful complications and insertion of replacement catheters, as well as increasing costs.
So we are now trying to drill down into ways nurses can prevent these complications, such as [ changing ] the volume and frequency
of saline flushing, which has never been tested in large randomised trials. We’ ve just finished several studies into IV dressings and securement, which we know need improvement. About 25 per cent of IV dressings are not clean, dry and intact at any one time. We’ ve found that in peripheral IVs, adding tissue adhesive( commonly used for skin lacerations in emergency), one drop at the catheter entry site and one drop under the hub, reduces up to one-quarter of IV failures. At the moment, the glue is expensive stuff, but we are lobbying the manufacturers to develop smaller volume tubes to sell more cheaply.
Can you give us a brief rundown on your professional experience leading up to this award? I was a full-time RN for five years, working in medical nursing and then later in surgical nursing and then intensive care, which I loved.
Then for about another 10 years, I mixed clinical bedside nursing with research nursing in the hospital setting, and later [ worked ] as a research assistant in the university setting. I eventually went to the university full time, and now [ I have ] a busy life with young kids and a lot going on.
At the moment, I’ m a full-time academic researcher and a visiting scholar at three major hospitals in Brisbane. Who knows? I may one day yet be back at the bedside. ■
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