Project HANDS: A Bundled Approach to Increase Short Peripheral Catheter Dwell Time.

Increasing short peripheral catheter (SPC) dwell time is becoming common practice. A number of variables lead to unscheduled restarts and significant complications with SPCs. Preventing complications is important to patient outcomes as dwell time increases. This quality improvement project compared the use of a manufactured securement device versus tape and transparent occlusive dressing while instituting a standardized insertion and care bundle with a 96-hour dwell time. Major findings included no statistically significant difference in restart rates in SPCs secured with a device compared with those secured with tape and transparent occlusive dressing (P = .06). These results differ from other published studies and may be due to the traditional nature of the hospital's infusion team and patients' average length of stay.