I am wondering what other PICC/Vascular Access Teams are using for a Database. We currently are using an Access program to record patient information and also run reports monthly. Is anyone using the PICCRegistry.com?
I think every Vascular Access Team is using a database driven by the administration. Database's are numbers. Numbers are reported in senior meetings. I was once told "you have to have numbers". Well, numbers are fine. They can give the reader alot of information. IF...and that is a big IF...the reader understands what the numbers mean. I'll give you an example: If, as a vascular access nurse,I see 6 patients on Monday, 4 patients on Tuesday , and 8 patients on Wednesday. I'll break it down further...Monday was 4 PICCs and 2 Midlines....Tuesday was 4 Midlines...and Wednesday was 3 PICC's 3 Midlines and 2 PIVs. Which day was I most busy?....Obviously the numbers say Wednesday. But was I ? What if I told you Wednesday was my easiest day. That Tuesday was my busiest because all 4 of those Midlines were very difficult patients and required alot of time and skill to complete those cases safely. How would you capture that in a database?. Unless you somehow associate a "time" to each number. But, that has built in problems also...What if a Midline on Monday took me 10-15 minutes but on Tuesday one of those Midlines took 1 hour. So, what can you say about a Midline insertion?....it takes 15 minutes or 1 hour..
I think data is very valuable, and as vascular access specialist we need to come up with a system to give real quantative data...I just think right now numbers don't tell the story and I'm afraid decisions will be made based on those numbers. That is not how the future of the Vascular Access Nurse should be molded.
Jack you are only talking about productivity data. Outcome data is more important in making decisions about infusion teams. OUtcome data as in infection rates, thrombisis rates, occlusion rates, infiltration/extravasation, etc. There are several ways to calculate productivity data and they are described in the paper I wrote last year for INS on the business case for infusion teams. You can download that paper from the INS website www.ins1.org. Lynn
You are absolutely correct Lynn, unfortunately my experience has been primarily to measure productivity. However, to measure clinical outcomes?......I can only wish!. And I will look at your paper thanks
We were using our own database up till about month and half ago. We recorded any service we provded, PICCs; Midlines; PIVs; throuble shooting; dressing changes; evaluations for access; education and more. It was also handy access to make notations of lenght of time spent; problems & issues.
We are no longer maintaing our own database. Management will pull reports from Epic (our Electronic Medical Record) as needed on PICCs only. I'ts concerning that we evaluated only on productivity (need) based on number of PICCs placed and not the SERVICE we provide.
Hi Julie,
I think every Vascular Access Team is using a database driven by the administration. Database's are numbers. Numbers are reported in senior meetings. I was once told "you have to have numbers". Well, numbers are fine. They can give the reader alot of information. IF...and that is a big IF...the reader understands what the numbers mean. I'll give you an example: If, as a vascular access nurse,I see 6 patients on Monday, 4 patients on Tuesday , and 8 patients on Wednesday. I'll break it down further...Monday was 4 PICCs and 2 Midlines....Tuesday was 4 Midlines...and Wednesday was 3 PICC's 3 Midlines and 2 PIVs. Which day was I most busy?....Obviously the numbers say Wednesday. But was I ? What if I told you Wednesday was my easiest day. That Tuesday was my busiest because all 4 of those Midlines were very difficult patients and required alot of time and skill to complete those cases safely. How would you capture that in a database?. Unless you somehow associate a "time" to each number. But, that has built in problems also...What if a Midline on Monday took me 10-15 minutes but on Tuesday one of those Midlines took 1 hour. So, what can you say about a Midline insertion?....it takes 15 minutes or 1 hour..
I think data is very valuable, and as vascular access specialist we need to come up with a system to give real quantative data...I just think right now numbers don't tell the story and I'm afraid decisions will be made based on those numbers. That is not how the future of the Vascular Access Nurse should be molded.
JackDiemer
Jack you are only talking about productivity data. Outcome data is more important in making decisions about infusion teams. OUtcome data as in infection rates, thrombisis rates, occlusion rates, infiltration/extravasation, etc. There are several ways to calculate productivity data and they are described in the paper I wrote last year for INS on the business case for infusion teams. You can download that paper from the INS website www.ins1.org. 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
You are absolutely correct Lynn, unfortunately my experience has been primarily to measure productivity. However, to measure clinical outcomes?......I can only wish!. And I will look at your paper thanks
Jack
We were using our own database up till about month and half ago. We recorded any service we provded, PICCs; Midlines; PIVs; throuble shooting; dressing changes; evaluations for access; education and more. It was also handy access to make notations of lenght of time spent; problems & issues.
We are no longer maintaing our own database. Management will pull reports from Epic (our Electronic Medical Record) as needed on PICCs only. I'ts concerning that we evaluated only on productivity (need) based on number of PICCs placed and not the SERVICE we provide.
Debra Rivie
Long Beach Memorial Medical Center
Long Beach, CA 90745
Debra Rivie RN VA-BC
Long Beach Memorial Medical Center
Long Beach, CA