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IV nurses take enormous pride in limiting pain and discomfort for patients who require vascular access, whether it is just once or many IV sites over a prolonged period.
For the last three years, CHEO has implemented five Best Practice Guidelines (BPGs) based on current best evidence, including the care and maintenance to reduce vascular access complications.
Then in March 2023, CHEO achieved designate status as a Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO) by the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO).
Jan. 25 is National IV Nurse Day and CHEO recognizes medical staff like Sandra Dragic, RN and Care Facilitator for the Vascular Access Team (VAT) and a BPG champion lead.
Sandra uses tools like pain ease spray and EMLA cream to help manage any discomfort associated with pain during needle procedures.
She also helps educate CHEO nurses on the value of using an ultrasound machine to help visualize a vein and guide the nurse before they insert a patient’s IV line.
“I just love to make this place better,” said Sandra, who has been a CHEO nurse specially trained in vascular access since 2007. “Nursing is constantly changing. ... [We’re always] trying to get it easier for the nurses at the bedside.”
IV nurses use and share the best evidence-based practices when caring for patients and families who require IV therapy here at CHEO, which includes the T.L.C. method: Touch. Look. Compare.
"They need to touch [the site], they need to feel it, they need to compare it side-by-side because sometimes just looking at the site you won’t be able to [notice differences between veins],” Dragic said of T.L.C.
Using tools like QR codes in hospital rooms, CHEO also shares information to inform patients, parents and caregivers who carry some responsibility once the IV line is connected.
Before discharge, families and patients who have central lines are also educated on at-home care and maintenance, and they are sent home with an emergency kit and a need-to-know pamphlet.
CHEO's journey to achieve the BPSO designation signifies a long-term commitment to deliver the highest standards of care to our patients and families. It has offered nurses and other health-care providers the additional tools, supports and resources to aid children and youth to live their best life.
