The Role of the Registered Nurse in the Insertion of Nontunneled Central Vascular Access Devices.

As the result of requests from several state boards of nursing, the Infusion Nurses Society (INS) convened a task force to determine whether insertion of central vascular access devices by appropriately trained registered nurses (RNs) should be recommended. The task force consisted of RNs and advanced practice registered nurses with infusion therapy experience in various practice settings. The results are presented in INS' newest position paper, adopted by the INS Board of Directors, September 2017.

Effect of a computerized insulin dose calculator on the process of glycemic control.

Background: Glycemic control is important to patients' outcomes. However, the process of maintaining glycemic control is risk laden and labor intensive for nurses.

Objectives: To examine the effects of using a computerized insulin dose calculator to facilitate management of glycemic control for critically ill cardiac patients.

The CNO: challenges and opportunities on the journey to excellence.

Moving a southern rural community medical center through the multitude of regulatory, fiscal, social, cultural, and political changes required for healthcare excellence in the early 21st century has provided some particularly unique challenges. This article describes opportunities and initiatives taken by a chief nursing officer and key members of the healthcare team to meet the challenges of moving a rural and rapidly growing healthcare system toward excellence. The initiatives and perspectives of the team, the chief nursing officer, performance improvement/quality corporate director, the board chairman, and nursing leaders, are presented.

Blood pressure and risks of vascular complications after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Evidence-based protocols are needed for care of the nearly 1,000,000 patients in the United States who undergo percutaneous coronary interventional procedures. This article describes a case-matched control study of 300 patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in which specific demographic, physician-sensitive, and nurse-sensitive factors were tested to determine their relative contribution to the incidence of vascular complications. Findings included that patients with a mean systolic blood pressure of 160 mm Hg or higher were 8 times more likely to have vascular complications (P < .

Evaluation of in-patient interventional cardiology.

The ACNP service in this study decreased the TA, TC, and LOS for patients transferred from outlying hospitals for cardiac catheterization or PCI. Patients on the ACNP service were provided prescription for appropriate discharge medications including beta-blockers, aspirin, ACE inhibitors, and lipid-lowering agents more often than patients on the housestaff service. Other aspects of care, including follow-up appointments and elements of patient education, were documented more often for patients on the ACNP interventional cardiac service and expand the role of ACNPs into other areas of acute-care cardiology practice.

Predictors of vascular complications post diagnostic cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary interventions.

Care of patients after cardiac catheterization and/or percutaneous coronary intervention is largely the responsibility of nurses. The identification of risk factors for vascular complications from these procedures is important for the development of protocols to prevent complications. This article describes a retrospective, descriptive, and correlational study of 11,119 patients who underwent cardiac catheterization and/or percutaneous intervention, with femoral artery access, in the years 2001 to 2003.