Peripheral Intravenous Education in North American Nursing Schools: A Call to Action.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral intravenous (PIV) management requires knowledge, skill, and clinical judgment to ensure positive patient outcomes; yet, many nurses lack confidence in their PIV knowledge and skills. It is important that graduate nurses acquire PIV knowledge and skills in nursing school. This study aimed to explore PIV content coverage and clinical opportunities provided in U.S. and Canadian nursing curricula. METHOD: Using a descriptive, exploratory design, representatives of nursing schools completed a 12-item, web-based PIV curriculum survey. RESULTS: Most schools covered PIV content in classroom, laboratory, and clinical settings; however, some indicated students were not allowed to initiate PIVs in clinical settings. Participants noted that PIV education was a shared responsibility with health systems. CONCLUSION: It is important that nursing students develop PIV competence; however, competing pressures for time in nursing curricula may limit PIV coverage. Nurse educators can benefit from PIV and infusion therapy specialty organization resources. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(9):493-500.].

Nurses' knowledge on routine care and maintenance of adult vascular access devices: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Vascular access devices (VAD), centrally (CVAD) or peripherally (PIV) located, are common in the nursing profession. A high proportion of admitted patients require a VAD to enable administration of intravenous treatments or diagnostic modalities. As the primary caregivers for these patients, nurses are responsible for ongoing care and maintenance of these devices. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review examines the current state of practicing nurses knowledge around routine care and maintenance of adult VADs. METHODS: In the fall of 2018, the following databases were searched: Medline-Ovid 1946 to current, Embase-Ovid 1947 to current, Ebsco CINAHL Plus with full text and ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health database, and articles were selected according to the PRISMA-ScR checklist. INCLUSION CRITERIA: original research published in peer-reviewed journals; in English or French; and focused on practising nurses' knowledge about the routine care and maintenance of adult VADs. RESULTS: Of the 4,099 abstracts identified, 36 full-text articles were included. Study characteristics are reportedin addition to themes found in the literature: the relationship between demographic data and CVAD/PIV knowledge, the state of nurses' CVAD/PIV knowledge and nurses' CVAD/PIV knowledge scores. Overall, significant gaps in nurses' knowledge on the care and maintenance of VADs are noted. CONCLUSION: The variability in nurses' knowledge around both CVAD and PIV led the authors to conclude that there is room for improvement in the educational preparation of nurses and a need for workplace training. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This scoping review intends to highlight the knowledge gap of nurses with regard to best practices for VAD routine care and maintenance and demonstrate the need for education, both in educational and healthcare institutions, to ensure high-quality care and improved patient outcomes.

Preceptorship in a Nurse Practitioner Program: The Student Perspective.

Preceptorship has been identified as an effective strategy for facilitating clinical learning among diverse health care professionals. The benefits of preceptored experiences are well documented; however, the preceptorship model is also vulnerable to challenges. There has been limited evaluation of preceptorship with nurse practitioner (NP) students. This article describes an evaluation of the preceptorship experience from the perspective of NP students. In particular, the facilitators and barriers to clinical learning are described.