Minimum education and training for pediatric and neonatal peripheral intravenous catheter care for all clinicians

Abstract

Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) insertion is a frequent procedure for hospitalized pediatric and neonatal patients. Timely and successful PIVC insertion can be challenging in pediatric and neonatal patients due to small or fragile veins, younger age, obesity, and patient activity (Alberto et al., 2023; Ben Abdelaziz et al., 2017; Girotto et al., 2020; Schults et al., 2019, 2022). First attempt insertion success ranges from 64% to 74%, with an average of 2.1 attempts prior to insertion of a functional PIVC (Kleidon et al., 2022). In children with difficult intravenous access (DIVA), the average number of attempts increases to four prior to an insertion of a functional PIVC (Kleidon et al., 2019; Schults et al., 2019). In addition to insertion difficulty, once a functional PIVC is successfully inserted, it is reported that 34% to 56% will fail prior to treatment completion, often necessitating the need for additional attempts to replace the failed PIVC (Indarwati et al., 2020; Kleidon et al, 2019; Kleidon, Rickard et al., 2020; van Rens, 2021).