Infusion Therapy Nursing Team: Implementation and Effectiveness of Initial Results

The responsibilities of an infusion therapy team may include choosing the most appropriate vascular access, performing safe insertion, maintaining the access, and even infusing medications and solutions. The objective of this study was to describe the scope of action and activities developed in the first year of operation of an infusion therapy team at a public hospital and to describe the effectiveness of the results. The team was formed by 2 infusion therapy nurses. In the first year, 1502 activities were carried out, with a predominance of peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) insertions (896; 59.6%); consultations related to infusion therapy (185; 12.3%); and PICC clearance procedures (103; 6.8%). PICCs were inserted using tip navigation and intracavitary electrocardiogram guidance in 82.5% of cases. The PICC first-attempt insertion success was 81.7%. The cannulation with a guide was performed in 51% of the insertions, and the success of venipuncture in the first attempt while using the guide did not differ from the rate without using the guide, P = .98. The consultations were mostly related to the insertion site (33.0%) and the contraindication for PICC insertion (17.8%). The performance had positive impacts on application, dissemination of good practices, and cost reduction.