Peripheral Intravenous Infiltrates: Engaging Staff to Increase Reporting

A large free standing children’s academic hospital aimed to improve patient safety and outcomes by decreasing the overall severity of peripheral intravenous infiltration and extravasations (PIVIEs). A care bundle was developed by creating a PIVIE measurement tool within the electronic medical record (EMR) and integrating the tool into standardized daily practice for nurses. The care bundle included creating a team of clinical leaders consisting of empowered bedside nurses acting as mobilized resources embedded into each unit. The initiative resulted in a large scale increase in reported PIVIEs system-wide within 1 month of education dissemination to bedside RN staff. The QI interventions captured a realistic interpretation allowing for a more global and accurate reflection of the number and severity of PIVIE events system-wide, while creating documentation for the PIVIE tool in the EMR and a clinical leader model. The results reflected a dramatic rise in the number of reported PIVIE events, increase in staff awareness of PIVIEs, increased peripheral intravenous line assessments, and decreased severity of PIVIEs that do occur