Effectiveness Effectiveness of a practice guidelines for the prevention of phlebitis in patients receiving intravenous therapy at In Patient Department Nongmuangkhai hospital, Phrae Province

Abstract

This action research aims to develop and study the effectiveness of a practice guideline for the prevention of phlebitis in inpatients. The focus was on continuous development and improvement of the guideline using the PDCA cycle as
a conceptual framework. The sample consisted of 1) 14 professional nurses working in inpatient department 2) 100 patients receiving intravenous fluids admitted to the inpatient department. The instruments included a knowledge assessment form,
a nursing practice assessment form for the prevention of phlebitis in the inpatient department, and a record of the incidence and severity of phlebitis . Content validity was approved by experts and  reliability was tested using the Kuder-Richardson formula (KR-20), with a reliability score of 0.95. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, and mean.

The results found that a practice guideline for the prevention of phlebitis in inpatient department was developed at Nong Muang Khai Hospital, Phrae Province. The results showed that after implementation of the practice guideline, the effectiveness of a guideline for the prevention of phlebitis was significantly improved. Professional nurses' knowledge of intravenous fluid administration and prevention of phlebitis increased from moderate ( = 10.07, S.D. = 1.44) to high
( = 15.29, S.D. = 2.01). Their ability to correctly perform nursing activities to prevent phlebitis from intravenous fluid administration increased from 81.80% to 97.65%, and the incidence of phlebitis decreased.

Keywords:  Effectiveness/the practice guideline intravenous fluids/peripheral phlebitis