Clinical Innovation Leads To Reduced Painful ‘Needle Sticks’ for Patients
Over a third of all patients admitted to hospitals have veins that are not visible or palpable. This often results in multiple needle stick attempts to place an IV cannula causing significant pain, distress and anxiety.
Clinical Nurse Consultants at Liverpool Hospital (including THRI’s Evan Alexandrou) have developed and evaluated a difficult venous access (DIVA) pathway to reduce the burden of difficult access for patients with the use of ultrasound guidance.
The pathway has been incredibly successful with 9/10 patients referred having there IV cannula inserted 1st attempt with significantly lower recorded pain compared to traditional needle stick approaches.