Intravenous catheter embolism

August 3, 2008

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Thomas Sharon, Legal Nurse Consultant reminds us that we have a duty of care to ensure that the correct insertion procedure is followed when placing a peripheral intravenous catheter.

Thomas writes… “When it comes to foreign body emboli, it seems that few nurses and doctors remain aware of this risk because so many violate the prime directive in the standards of care: Once you pull the needle out of the catheter never reinsert it… The proper technique is to insert, pull the needle back and check for flash back… What happens all too often is when the workers realize that they missed the vein because there is no flash back, or the catheter seemed to have slipped out of the vein during the threading process, they reinsert the needle in order to access the vein without having to withdraw and start again. However, this is completely contrary to the standard of care because if the catheter tube is kinked upon reinsertion of the needle the needle could sever a portion of the catheter and it then becomes a foreign body”.

Click here to read his full report.