Peripheral venous catheter care bundle

The peripheral venous catheter care bundle was designed by Sarah Hancill RVN as part of the RCVS Knowledge grants programme.

How to use the peripheral venous catheter care checklist

The checklist consists of quality indicators which are to be repeated on a regular basis as prescribed by a veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse. Each patient with an intravenous catheter should be assigned a separate checklist. The veterinary nurse or veterinary surgeon caring for the patient should complete each intervention and record their findings on the checklist provided. This can then be used as a tool for communicating between staff any problems with the catheter. It can also be used to collect data on the interventions completed.

Benefit of using the peripheral venous catheter care checklist

Although intravenous catheter insertion has become common practice, breaking the skin barrier alters the hosts’ defences against infection, which increases the risk of local infection or bacteraemia with more serious complications such as septicaemia. This causes concern for patient safety. The peripheral venous catheter care checklist will help to increase patient safety. It consists of 14 quality indicators, repeated at regular intervals hours over a determined period. This timing allows for objective assessment of clinical performance for insertion and management of the peripheral intravenous catheters. For example, appropriate hand hygiene followed before handling the patient, appearance of catheter insertion site and timely removal of the catheter are some of the interventions.

This version is from August 2024.