Abstract

Objective: Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) administration is one of the fundamental practices for which the nursing team takes responsibility, and incorrect practices can lead to negative results in patient safety. The study aimed to evaluate the nurses’ knowledge level of PIVC management.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between June and September 2021 with the participation of 605 nurses. Data were collected by an online method using a 23-item form that was based on current guidelines.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 30.46±8.18 years; 87.1% were women, 55.9% were undergraduates, and 39.3% had 13 months-5 years of work experience. The mean score of the knowledge level of nurses about PIVC management was 18.03±1.9. The areas with the highest level of knowledge were labelling on-catheter date (98.7%), assessment of catheter function by flushing and aspiration (97.7%), and changing the infusion set at each catheter change (97.5%). The lowest rate of correct answers was in the items related to the routine replacement time of the catheters (17.5%), the selection of the catheter insertion site (20.8%), and the evaluation times (23.8%). We determined that there was no statistically significant difference between the mean total knowledge score and the variables (p>0.05) other than gender (p<0.05).

Conclusion: While the results indicate the adequacy of nurses’ knowledge about PIVC applications, we need to renew our participant group’s knowledge in areas such as routine evaluation and replacement frequency of catheters, labelling of infusion sets, and changing times of different infusion sets. We recommend that nurses’ knowledge of PIVC applications be updated with education programs based on evidence-based guidelines, their knowledge levels be evaluated periodically, and the correctness of their application should be investigated with observational studies.