Abstract
It is the responsibility of the nurses to safely insert, manipulate, infuse, care and remove the cannula. The aim of this research is to assess the impact of local heat application on peripheral intravenous cannulation among patients admitted in the general wards. A true experimental research design was adopted to select 30 patients in interventional group and 30 patients in standard group by systematic random sampling to assess the visibility and palpability of veins, pain, time required and pricking attempts during IV cannulation. Post-intervention the mean score of vein visibility and palpability was significantly (p=.001, U value= 445) higher in the interventional group 4.1±.7 than the standard group 2.36±.6. The mean score of patient’s pain perception was significantly (p=.001, t-value 4.41) lower in the interventional group 1.56±1.79 than the standard group 5.13±2.47. The pricking attempts were significantly reduced (Fisher test value= 5.42, p=.001) in interventional group than the standard group. The mean score of time needed for IV cannulation was significantly less (t-value 4.76, p=.001) in interventional group 2.2±.5 than the standard group 5.3±.8. Thus the application of local heat before IV cannulation is an effective way for veins visibility and palpability, minimizing the patient’s pain perception, reducing the time needed and the number of pricking for successful IV cannulation.
Keywords: Impact, Local heat application, Peripheral intravenous cannulation, Patients, General wards, Hospita