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Evaluating venepuncture practice on a general children's ward
Christopher Hands1, Jonathan Round, Jessica Thomas
1St. George's Hospital, London.
Insights
Venepuncture (needle insertion into a vein) is highly distressing for children in hospitals. Despite known methods to reduce distress, training is inconsistent, and interventions are underutilized.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric healthcare
- Patient experience
- Medical procedures
Background:
- Venepuncture is a common yet distressing procedure for children during hospital stays.
- Adverse physical and psychological effects are frequently associated with pediatric venepuncture.
- Current practices and training related to venepuncture in children require evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the training, practice, and outcomes of venepuncture in pediatric patients.
- To identify strategies for mitigating the negative physical and psychological impacts of venepuncture on children.
- To improve the pediatric venepuncture experience.
Main Methods:
- A survey was conducted among 51 parents, 39 children, and 72 junior doctors regarding their experiences with pediatric venepuncture.
- A telephone survey assessed venous access training among 25 pediatric senior house officers.
- Data collection focused on perceived distress, number of attempts, and use of therapeutic measures.
Main Results:
- Both parents and children reported venepuncture as extremely distressing.
- Parents' estimates of venepuncture attempts significantly exceeded doctors' reports.
- Therapeutic measures to alleviate distress were infrequently employed by clinicians.
- Formal venepuncture training was offered in only 7 out of 25 surveyed departments.
Conclusions:
- Venepuncture remains a major source of distress for hospitalized children.
- Inconsistent training and underutilization of proven interventions hinder distress reduction.
- There is a significant opportunity to improve pediatric venepuncture practices and patient care.
Aim:
To assess the training for, practice of, and effects of venepuncture in children on a general children's ward. To identify approaches that might reduce the adverse physical and psychological effects related to venepuncture.
Methods:
Questionnaire survey of 51 parents, 39 children and 72 junior doctors following venepuncture in the children. Telephone survey of 25 paediatric senior house officers on venous access training.
Results:
Parents and children assessed venepuncture as extremely distressing. Parents' assessments of the mean number of venepuncture attempts were markedly higher than those of the doctors surveyed. When carrying out venepuncture, doctors used therapeutic measures much less frequently than expected. Only seven of the 25 departments surveyed offered any training in venepuncture.
Conclusion:
Venepuncture is consistently one of the most distressing aspects of hospital admission for children. Much could be done to alleviate this, but trainir patchy and interventions shown to reduce distress are not uniformly used.
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