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Management of arterial lines and blood sampling in intensive care: a threat to patient safety
Author(s) -
Leslie R. A.,
Gouldson S.,
Habib N.,
Harris N.,
Murray H.,
Wells V.,
Cook T. M.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1111/anae.12389
Subject(s) - medicine , patient safety , intensive care unit , intensive care , medical emergency , clinical practice , emergency medicine , medical prescription , intensive care medicine , nursing , health care , economics , economic growth
Summary In 2008, the UK National Patient Safety Agency ( NPSA ) made recommendations for safe arterial line management. Following a patient safety incident in our intensive care unit ( ICU ), we surveyed current practice in arterial line management and determined whether these recommendations had been adopted. We contacted all 241 adult ICU s in the UK ; 228 (94.6%) completed the survey. Some NPSA recommendations have been widely implemented – use of sodium chloride 0.9% as flush fluid, two‐person checking of fluids before use – and their practice was consistent. Others have been incompletely implemented and many areas of practice (prescription of fluids, two‐person checking at shift changes, use of opaque pressure bags, arterial sampling technique) were highly variable. More importantly, the use of the wrong fluid as an arterial flush was reported by 30% of respondents for ICU practice, and a further 30% for practice elsewhere in the hospital. Our survey provides evidence of continuing risk to patients.