I'm looking for information on how institutions collect the data to track phlebitis rates. I'm fully aware of the INS standard and how to calculate it, but our information is somewhat unreliable since the information we are trying to collect is dependent on others input.
 For those of you who do track IV phlebitis rates, how are the IV starts counted or collected?Â
 Does anyone use any other calculation or rates such as number of phlebitis divided by IV line days multiplied by 1000 to get a rate? (This has been used instead of the INS standard when the number of IV starts are not available- and benchmarked year to year against itself internally.)
Thanks for any input!
I can share what was done in a large hospital system a few years ago while I was consulting with them. We created a tool for data collection. On a designated date and time, the designated clinical person assessed all IV sites on their unit using this form. This was done once per month for several months in a row. All nursing units were done at the same time. Data was then analyzed and compared for tracking and trending. This would give you a "snapshot" of what was happening at that time instead of an ongoing picture of all patients. But this amount of data is better than none. To calculate the rate per 1000 catheter days, you would have to keep track of every single catheter in your facility, an almost impossible task. I would definitely agree that this method of data analysis is far better than the percentage of catheters found with phlebitis, but the logistics of data collection are very labor intensive.
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