Evaluation of a radial artery cannulation training program for intensive care nurses: a descriptive, explorative...

Radial arterial line is required for critically ill patients to provide continuous blood pressure monitoring and arterial blood sampling. A program training experienced ICU nurses to perform radial artery cannulation was introduced in a Melbourne metropolitan ICU to allow early treatment and intervention to be delivered to patients while medical staff attend to more urgent diagnostic care. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program for radial artery cannulation in the ICU.

This descriptive explorative study involving a convenience sample of two groups of ICU nurses (11 and 10 participants) was conducted in a 20-bed multi-discipline adult ICU within this metropolitan hospital. Stage I involved data collection of all radial artery cannulation attempts made by participants for a period of 6 months from the training date. Stage II involved completion of questionnaires by participants to reflect on their experience 6 months post-training. The effectiveness of the training program was evaluated based on the success rates of cannulations, any reports of adverse events and participants' responses to questionnaires.

107 patients underwent a cannulation attempt of which 67 (63%) were successful with no reports of adverse events. Eleven nurses managed to achieve competency with a minimum of two successful cannulations. Sixty-seven percent (14 out of 21) responded to the questionnaire and 93% expressed that they would recommend this course to other colleagues. About half of the respondents stated that the ICU nurses' ability to perform radial artery cannulations may prevent patients from having to wait for long periods when doctors are held up.

The findings showed that ICU nurses can safely insert radial arterial lines with improvements recommended.