Nursing attitudes and practices for routine I.V. catheter resiting.

Purpose: To understand nursing perceptions of hospital requirements for routine resiting of short peripheral catheters (SPCs).

Methods: This exploratory research project at the authors' medium-sized regional referral and trauma center utilized an online survey to assess the perceived efficacy and patient disruption related to SPC resiting among acute care nurses.

Results: Out of 203 eligible nurses, 81 participated. The survey results support the perception that SPC insertions and resiting can be time-consuming and disruptive to the flow of care. The strongest correlation occurred between patients who had requested no SPC resiting and the reported disruption from SPC resiting.

Conclusion: Based on the survey results, a formal recommendation was made within the hospital system to amend the existing policy and remove the requirement for SPC resiting after 96 hours in favor of the nurses' best clinical judgment.