Family Practice Nursing Commons^™

Using Ultrasound Guided Peripheral Intravenous Catheters In Difficult Access Patients, Courtney Prince

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quality improvement project is to compare the use of ultrasound to guide placement of peripheral intravenous (USGPIV) catheters versus standard techniques in difficult access patients, as measured by the number of attempts required to obtain venous access and total cost related to means of obtaining peripheral venous access between a nurse driven USGPIV and VAT team consults or physician assistance. The appraised evidence indicates USGPIV increases the number of successful PIV placements, prevents non-essential central lines and excessive needle sticks, and reduces patients and healthcare professionals frustrations (An et al., 2016, Au et al., 2012, Dargin, …