The risk of developing phlebitis, measured as the HR for a
given period of time, was reduced by 1% for each 1 min/day
increase in total care received. When nurses have more time to
dedicate to patient care, there is an increase in patient surveillance
and safety.13 The HR associated with phlebitis was
also lower for patients admitted to highly specialized hospitals.
In these hospitals, PVC insertion is likely to be a more common
procedure. Moreover, patients admitted to highly specialized
settings are likely to be more critical and therefore exposed to
more nursing care, and/or submitted to closer monitoring,
leading to earlier identification of adverse events. Furthermore,
previous studies9,14 have reported that the incidence of
PVC-related phlebitis is lower when staff are more skilled and
have greater expertise; this is more likely to be the case in
high-volume hospital centres.