I was hoping that you could share your staffing standards with me. I am the Nursing Director for the IV Team at a 950 bed facility. We are experiencing tremendous "scope creep" in demand for our services. We provide PICC insertions every day 7am to 11 pm, have centralized all PICC site evaluations and dressing changes to the IV team. We are now being called upon routinely to areas that have historically managed their patient's needs for short peripheral iv insertions and lab draws. In addition, as the organization grows many of our outpatient areas are being housed in facilities off the main campus.
Are there national staffing standards for IV therapy services. How do you define the patient populations you are able to provide services to?
I'd appreciate any information or suggestions!
Thank you,
Janet Mulligan, RN, MS
Nursing Director
I would suggest you obtain a copy of the Infusion Therapy Team Implementation Module, a textbook from INS that has the resources to guide you in calculating the needs of your organization. All team are structured differently with different hours, patient populations, scope of service, etc. So what is appropriate for one is not right for another.
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, BC, CRNI
www.hadawayassociates.com
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, NPD-BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861
Have you considered doing a time study? Yes it can be a pain but if done correctly and with all participating you can get valuable information with an average of how long each task takes. You need to include complete times,that include travel time ,communication with members of the healthcare team,and documentation. You should also keep numbers of how many PICCs you are placing to see if your numbers are increasing. I see your problem with the new area calls...someone needs your service...what are you going to do.....You find a way to do it. Once again,you need to collect data to see how much and what units you are seving so you can come up with appopriate stafffing and justification (if needed)