When the Pediatric IV Therapy Team was established, the main aim was for all Pediatric IV Therapies in HGH to be managed by skilled practitioners. The other aims of the team are to decrease the waiting time for the cannula to be placed, the number of cannulation attempts, complications, and most importantly – the pain and discomfort in children during these procedures by providing age-appropriate psychological support, distraction comfort measures or topical anesthetics. The team is led by a pediatric IV nurse coordinator, and reports to the North 2 Head Nurse. The current service coverage of the team includes HGH pediatric inpatient units, the summit unit, and the pediatric patients in the HGH Emergency Department.
The development of the Pediatric IV Therapy Team is outlined in six phases. The first two phases mainly involve workshops and practicums that serve as pre-requisite to the education piece. These practicums consist of management and care for patients with Peripheral IV; then eventually taking on patients with Central Venous Catheter, Porta Cath and Hickman. The latter four phases respectively include staff development, patient and family education, code team (vascular access) and data collection.
According to the team's report from their pilot period – January to March 2013 - the demand for their service has increased as demonstrated by the increase of the total number of calls they have received within that period.
Most importantly, together with the increase for the demand of their service, the percentage of success for procedures managed by the team has increase The data above demonstrates the competency of the Pediatric IV Therapy Team to achieve their most crucial aim, which is to reduce the pain and discomfort for children during any attempt of vascular access.
