What a great 2016 meeting!  AVA celebrated 30 years with a celebration Gala friday evening.  Thank you AVA for an enjoyable evening. What did I take away from the scientific meeting?  Just a few quick thoughts, there are many more but

There has been a lot of discussion on where these devices should be placed.   Here is what the 2016 Infusion Therapy Standards of Practice State: INS 27.  SITE SELECTION: “Select sites in the upper arm, preferred, or secondarily the region

I was just reviewing the numbers related to CLABSI rates and we still have a lot of work to do!  Studies still show that the majority of central lines become infected after day 5 of insertion.  Vascular Access Programs and

This article is a must read! Moureau, N. and Chopra, V. (2016) Indications for peripheral, midline and central catheters: summary of the MAGIC recommendations. British Journal of Nursing. 25(8), p.S15-24. Patients admitted to acute care frequently require intravenous access to

2016 Infusion Therapy Standards of Practice on “Midline Catheters” Standard 33.  VASCULAR ACCESS SITE PREPARATION AND DEVICE PLACEMENT: “Consider the use of maximal sterile barrier precaution with midline catheter insertion”  We have been teaching this practice for many years! “Use

First introduced in FY2015, the hospital-acquired condition (HAC) reduction program was created to incentivize short-term acute care hospitals to reduce the amount of HACs by penalizing those that fail to do so. HACs are reasonably preventable conditions that patients did

With all the talk about Midline catheters and their uses,  we will be speaking in Colorado at Rocky Mountain INS on “Midline Catheters, another tool in the toolbox” This one hour education session will focus on understanding this device, its

When we educate hospitals on the prevention of catheter infections, we talk about standardizing practice.  We know in the acute care setting that washing hands, scrubbing hubs, sterile dressing changes, 30 second site scrub with chlorhexadine, bundles and choosing the

This is a great read! Ferroni, A. et al., Pulsatile Flushing as a Strategy to Prevet Bacterial Colonization of Vascular Access Devices; Medical Devices: Evidence and Research 2014; 7:379-383 Summary: This article is one of the first of this decade

Come join us for another 8 hour PICC/Midline Class in Madison, WI.  The class will prepare you to insert these devices at your facility.  Every hospital needs a vascular access program with skilled knowledgeable staff leading the way.  The classes