At an urban pediatric medical center, quality report
card data revealed multiple nursing departments with
peripheral IV infiltration rates higher than the center’s
internal benchmark. The chief nursing officer and the
director of quality services asked nursing leaders and
education specialists for action plans to address the
problem, which not only involved quality outcomes but
also had a fiscal component. In the majority of occurrences,
the infiltrations resulted from the therapy used
to
treat the patient’s primary diagnosis. When an infiltration
occurred, the treatment for it may have resulted
in
an increased length of stay and additional follow-up
care
that exceeded the typical treatment for the patient’s diagnosis. These costs may have been exacerbated by
potential costs related to litigation, if a patient pursued
legal damages.
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