Our hospital has not discharged patients home from inpatient or ER with PIV. I am being asked to justify this practice. Are there any standard of practice or studies that anybody knows of to support our current practice of DC PIV before discharge and only using PICC for outpatient IV therapy?
Certainly short peripheral catheters are used in all settings outside of the hospital and patients are transferred out of hospital with them still in situ. The INS Standards of Practice are written to apply to all settings where VADs are placed, managed and/or infusion therapies are administered - Standard #1 Patient Care. Sending someone home with any type of VAD requires that the hospital ensure some planned means for providing the required therapies and care of any VAD, including PIVs. So you just can't discharge a patient with any VAD and tell them "good luck, you are on your own now". If arrangements are made for ambulatory care or home care or even long term care it is appropriate to discharge with a PIV, the same as with any VAD. Lynn
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
126 Main Street, PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861