Related Experiment Videos
Using heat to reduce blood collection time in pediatric clients
Insights
Applying heat to a child
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Clinical Interventions
- Blood Sample Collection
Background:
- Pediatric blood lead screening is mandated in several states for daycare and school entry.
- Collecting blood samples from pediatric clients via finger stick can be challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of heat application on vasodilation to reduce finger stick blood collection time in pediatric patients.
- To evaluate a novel intervention for improving pediatric blood sample collection efficiency.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 63 pediatric subjects aged 2-6 years.
- The intervention group received 1-minute heat application using an infant heel warmer prior to finger stick.
- Blood collection time was measured using a stopwatch for both control and intervention groups.
Main Results:
- A statistically significant reduction in blood collection time was observed in the heat-application group (p = .008).
- Heat application promotes vasodilation, thereby decreasing the time required for pediatric finger stick blood collection.
Conclusions:
- Applying heat to enhance vasodilation is an effective method to reduce blood collection time in pediatric patients.
- This intervention can assist nurse practitioners in efficiently collecting blood samples from young children.
Abstract:
Several states now require that all children attending day care, nursery schools, and kindergarten have evidence of a blood lead screening. Obtaining the requisite blood sample can be difficult because of inherent problems with pediatric clients. The purpose of this research was to explore if the application of heat to promote vasodilation affected finger stick collection time in pediatric clients. Subjects, ages 2 through 6 years, were randomly assigned to a control or intervention group (N = 63). For the intervention group, heat was applied for 1 min by placement of an infant heel warmer on the hand selected for the finger stick. A stopwatch was used to measure the time of blood collection in both the control and intervention groups. A two-tailed t test revealed statistical significance between the two groups (p = .008). Findings suggest the application of heat to promote vasodilation does reduce collection time in pediatric clients. Nurse practitioners may use this intervention to facilitate collection of blood samples in pediatric clients.