A Bundle of Best Practices for Short Peripheral Venous Catheterization in Hospitalized Patients: A Scoping Review

This study aims to construct a bundle of practices for short peripheral venous catheterization in hospitalized adult and older adult patients, based on best practices available in the scientific literature.

A methodological study was carried out in two stages: scoping review and bundle construction. The review was conducted according to the JBI recommendations for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews, answering the following question: “What are the best nursing practices for short peripheral venous catheterization in adult and older adult patients hospitalized in clinical wards?” Studies that included adult and older adult patients hospitalized in clinical wards, addressing nursing care in the management of short peripheral venous catheters to prevent iatrogenic complications, using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods approaches, were included. Systematic reviews, expert opinions, and gray literature were also considered.

Nine documents published in different countries with recommendations to prevent complications of short peripheral venous catheterization were included. The bundle was constructed with 25 interventions divided into client preparation, insertion, maintenance/handling, and removal that should be followed to guide good practices in the management of short peripheral venous catheters.

Interventions for short peripheral venous catheters were identified and deemed relevant to prevent complications. There is an urgent need to develop tools to systematize care and to train healthcare teams. Thus, the importance of this paper can be seen in having built this product (bundle) that can guide the clinical practice of several nursing professionals. Research is recommended to be carried out to construct and validate bundles so that they can improve clinical nursing practice and patient care.