EP.TU.200Improving variable rate insulin infusion compliance in general surgery

Abstract

Abstract Aims 1. Audit the current variable rate insulin infusion (VRII) practice per local guidelines. 2. Understand barriers to good VRII practice to create an intervention. 3. Re-Audit the VRII practice following intervention. Methods Junior doctors were surveyed using Likert scales (1 to 5: not at all confident to very confident) as well as closed and open questions. Chain action reaction (CAR) theory was used. Six domains were identified against a local proforma. Initial audit and questionnaire were collected from November 2019 to January 2020 and analysed using Microsoft Excel. Intervention consisted of a condensed one-page algorithm with group teaching. Re-audit data was collected between June 2020 to August 2020 for comparison. Results Questionnaire – 53.6% (15/28) of juniors responded. Challenges included conversion oral hypoglycaemics and complexity of the guidance. Group teaching and a condensed portable format were the most popular modalities for delivery of further education. Initial Audit – 12 VRII charts were audited. 33.3% (4/12) were completed correctly. Areas of significant need for improvement were as follows: ensuring long-acting insulin is prescribed, transferring from a VRII back to oral medications and appropriate fluid prescribing. Re-Audit – 18 charts were audited following intervention. Of these, 66.7% (12/18) were completed correctly. There was a significant improvement in appropriate fluid prescribing and long-acting insulin prescriptions. Conclusions Understanding the factors involved throughout the chain of how VRIIs are prescribed has helped to implement a positive intervention in our department. The improvement has been significant (100% better) however there is still further work required to improve compliance.