Download Implementing a Vascular Access Team in Healthcare: Nurses' Role, Costs, and Outcomes and more Thesis Business Accounting in PDF only on Docsity! NURS 6050 Advocating for the Nursing Role in Program Design and Implementation Master of Science in Nursing, Walden University NURS 6050N: Policy and Advocacy for Improving Population Health Advocating for the Nursing Role in Program Design and Implementation Developing a program to decrease the number of venipunctures that a patient will have to endure is not the only reason that the presence of a dedicated Vascular Access Team (VAT) would be beneficial. VATs are known to increase patient satisfaction, assist with timely completion of therapies, and reduce patient length of stay. Johnson et al., (2017) state that having a VAT in the acute care setting is known to reduce infection rates associated with invasive intravenous catheters, increased efficiency, and quality of patient care. The standardization of catheter insertions, maintenance, and removal leads to better workflow utilization of resources. Tell us about a healthcare program, within your practice. What are the costs and projected outcomes of this program? A program that I would like to focus on is implementing a Vascular Access Team (VAT). I am currently certified and proficient in the placement of Ultrasound-Guided Intravenous Catheters (USGIVs). The projected outcome of the program would be that there would always be staff available to place USGIVs for patients throughout the hospital deemed as "difficult intravenous access" or DIVA (Feinsmith et al., 2018). Implementing a vascular access team would decrease the need for more invasive venous access devices such as central lines, Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters (PICC), and Midline Catheters. A study by Galen et al., (2019) suggests that training nurses in placing USGIVs will significantly reduce the need for PICC and midline catheters, which Morata et al, (2017) state will also decrease the risk for central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). Costs associated with implementing this program would include the need to have more staff members on the payroll, education for said employees, multiple ultrasound machines, and extra supplies. The desired outcome would be decreased use of invasive lines, decreased CLABSI- related infection rates, and increased quality of patient care. Who is your target population? The target population for this program would be patients throughout the hospital who are deemed as "difficult intravenous access" or DIVA (Feinsmith et al., 2018). Many factors may affect the clinician's ability to access a patient's veins. Patients who are more likely to undergo multiple, painful attempts to gain peripheral venous access are those with chronic disease, hemodialysis, history of intravenous drug use, are obese or malnourished, have received certain medications, those with vascular disease, and fluid status imbalance, are known to suffer from DIVA. What is the role of the nurse in providing input for the design of this healthcare program? Can you provide examples? As nurses, we have a great deal of experience in caring for patients. We take pride in effectively managing our time, and we know the workflow. Those in an administrative role may not have full knowledge of what it is like to work in direct patient care. Since it is necessary for hospital administration to ultimately implement any new program, they may rely on the nurse for information regarding best practice ideas. For example, how many VAT staff members would need to be present in a 300-bed hospital at one time? What are the times that are the busiest? Would night coverage be necessary?
