Reframing Peripheral IV Infection Prevention: From Awareness to Action

Reframing Peripheral IV Infection Prevention: From Awareness to Action

[Sponsored] Peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) are among the most commonly used invasive devices in healthcare, used in an estimated 80% of patients, with roughly 2 billion sold each year worldwide. Yet bloodstream infections (BSI) from these noncentral devices are often overlooked under current central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) surveillance definitions.

With PIV failure rates averaging 46%, complications like infiltration, phlebitis and mechanical failure are not rare — they’re common but preventable. These failures disrupt care, jeopardize patient safety and place a significant burden on staff and hospital resources.

While the risk of infection or complication may seem low in isolation, the sheer volume of PIVs placed each day means those risks can add up across a hospital. It’s time to rethink how clinicians view PIVs: not as low-risk procedures, but as high-frequency interventions that demand higher standards of protection. In the following discussion, nurse leaders describe how organizations can improve monitoring, clarify responsibility for IV care, and improve consistency in order to reframe.

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