Quality Improvement Cycle: Criteria compliance in infusion therapy with Hospitalized adult patients

Abstract

Introduction: Infusion therapy guidelines allow for compliance with standards of care for intravascular devices as a fundamental part of the treatment of hospitalized patients, as well as for preventing associated infections and other complications.

Objective: To evaluate compliance with quality criteria for infusion therapy before and after intervention strategies in hospitalized adult patients with central venous catheters.

Methodology: A quasi-experimental intervention study integrating the stages of the quality improvement cycle. Initial (74) and final (73) assessments were performed to identify improvements in criteria compliance. The instruments were based on those proposed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). Univariate analysis of compliance with each criterion used the Z test with a p value <0.05 to estimate differences.

Results: The overall improvement achieved and the difference in quality criteria compliance between the two assessments were significantly different between the initial and final assessments for criteria C-2, C-4, C-5, C-9, and C-10, with a p-value <0.001.

Conclusion: The implementation of improvement interventions for specific nursing care in infusion therapy improves compliance with quality criteria and enables the design of nursing care plans focused on patient needs.