This post comes courtesy of Dr. Mark Rupp, who recently published a study in the Journal of Infusion Nursing about outpatient maintenance practices for central venous access devices (CVADs)!
Our patients are increasingly receiving intravenous therapy at home via indwelling CVADs. However, limited data exist regarding patients’ experiences with outpatient CVADs. Regina Nailon is the lead author on a recently published paper in the Journal of infusion Nursing detailing the patient experience with home infusion therapy. In this project, patients maintained a 14-day diary that detailed the location, frequency, and purpose of CVAD access episodes and who performed CVAD care.
Across all of the patient’s, 77% of CVAD care was provided in the patient’s home compared with other sites (infusion centers, doctor’s offices, etc.). CVAD care was provided by the patient themselves (48%), a family member/caregiver (25%), or an infusion nurse (27%). An occlusion rate of 9.57 per thousand device days was noted. No central line associated bloodstream infections were observed.
This study nicely documents the extent of self-care and family member care for outpatients with indwelling CVADs and the potential for care practice variation that increases the risk for complications in the home setting. These findings support efforts aimed at standardizing the education and processes of care for patients with CVADs in the home setting.
You can read the full article here.