Investigation Of Nurses Level Of Skills In Peripheral Venous Catheter Application

Objective: This study was carried out as a descriptive study in order to examine the peripheral venous catheterization skills of nurses. Methods: The target population of the study consisted of 74 nurses working in inpatient care units of a university hospital where peripheral venous catheter application is performed frequently. The sample was composed of 33 nurses who were selected by simple random sampling method and volunteered to participate in the study. Prior to the study, institution permission and ethics committee permission were obtained from the institution where the research would be conducted. The data were collected by using ‘Information Form’ and ‘Peripheral Venous Catheter Application Form’ prepared by the researchers in line with the literature. Each nurse was observed during three separate peripheral venous catheter applications. A total of 99 observations were performed in the study which 33 nurses participated in. A separate observation and total observation score were determined by giving “1 point” for each correct application and “0 point” for each wrong or no application. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis in SPSS 25.0 package program. Results: The mean age of the nurses was 30.18 ± 6.45 years, the mean professional experience was 7.8 ± 2.4 years, and 69.7% of them were undergraduate. In 82.8% of the observations made during the peripheral venous catheter application, the nurses did not wash their hands; in 95.9%, the asepsis of the area was ensured using 70% ethyl alcohol, however, in 65,6% the vein was palpated again after ensuring the asepsis of the area, and in 71.7% it was observed that the aseptic solution was not expected to dry. The mean total score acquired during the observation of the nurses was found to be 39.1 ± 4.4 (27-49). Conclusion: As a result of the study, it was observed that the nurses did not apply some of the steps missing or applied them wrongly during the application of peripheral venous catheter. In order to be able to prevent possible catheter-related complications, it is important for nurses to make complete steps in the application of the peripheral venous catheter and to make an effort to improve the steps of misuse.