Author(s)

Dan Malm^1,2,3*, Bo Rolander^3,4, Eva-Marie Ebefors², Lisa Conlon^1,3, Annette Nygårdh¹

¹Department of Nursing, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
²Department of Internal Medicine, County Hospital Ryhov, Jönköping, Sweden.
³Futurum Academy for Healthcare, Jönköping, Sweden.
⁴Department of Behavioral Science and Social Work, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.

Background: Peripheral venous catheter (PVC) insertion is a crucial nursing action during life support. Several factors that increase the risk of thrombophlebitis associated with PVCs have been reported. Objective: We wish to evaluate the impact of a quality improvement regarding PVC treatment for patients with coronary heart diseases. Method: A longitudinal, quantitative observational study was carried out in 2008 and 2013 in a hospital in southern Sweden with 360 consecutive patients suffering from acute chest pain. New routines for PVC treatment were included in the hospital with daily inspection according to a checklist. A structured observation protocol was used to survey the prevalence of thrombophlebitis between 2008 and 2013. Also, we examined the relationship between the location and luminal diameters of PVCs. Results: The student’s t-test showed significant differences between 2008 and 2013 with respect to luminal diameter of PVCs (p = 0.002), prevalence of thrombophlebitis (p = 0.003) and number of days with PVC left in situ (p < 0.001). Conclusion: These findings emphasize the value of using systematic daily inspections and checklists to achieve quality and safety in patients with acute chest pain having PVC-based treatment.

Bloodstream Infection, Peripheral Venous Catheter, Quality Improvement, Thrombophlebitis

Malm, D. , Rolander, B. , Ebefors, E. , Conlon, L. and Nygårdh, A. (2016) Reducing the Prevalence of Catheter-Related Infections by Quality Improvement: Six-Year Follow-Up Study. Open Journal of Nursing, 6, 79-87. doi: 10.4236/ojn.2016.62008.