Description

Welcome to the Peripheral Intravenous Cannulation course. This course has been designed to provide you with an understanding of how to insert a peripheral intravenous cannula (PIVC) into an adult patient and to prevent and control healthcare associated infections (HAIs) associated with this procedure.

The Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) has endorsed this course and successful completion earns 90 CPD Points from APNA.

After completing this course, you will understand:

• which National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards (2010) are applicable to PIVC insertion
• the risk of infection posed by PIVC insertion and the measures that need be taken to prevent and minimise this
• what equipment is required to successfully insert a PIVC
• how to prepare a patient for PIVC insertion
• the recommended processes for inserting, maintaining and removing a PIVC, and
• the complications that can occur. 

You should complete this course if you’re a clinician whose scope of practice includes the insertion and maintenance of PIVCs. It should be completed prior to any clinical assessment of peripheral intravenous cannulation skills and then used regularly in ongoing refresher training. 

Competency

Before you can be deemed competent to perform IV cannulations for your organisation, a required number of simulated and live cannulations will need to be successfully undertaken, as per your organisation’s policies and procedures.

This is best assessed by a clinician with formal recognised training in the practice and/or substantial practical experience supported by a strong record of quality client outcomes and the absence of incidents.

Only competent or trained clinicians, or inexperienced clinicians under direct supervision of an experienced clinician, should insert a PIVC. 

NSQHS Standards 

Satisfactory completion of this course will assist clinicians meet certain theoretical requirements of the Australian National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards (2012). The course supports aspects of:

• Standard 3: Preventing and Managing Healthcare Associated Infections, particularly items 3.8 and 3.9 dealing with invasive devices, and
• Standard 5: Patient Identification and Procedure Matching, particularly item 5.1, which recommends that at least three approved patient identifiers be used when care, therapy or other services are provided.

A Certificate of Completion is issued on successful completion of the course and you are required to get an 80% pass mark to be deemed as understanding the content. It is recommended that training is conducted every 2 years to stay refreshed.

Run time 90 minutes