The vast majority (88 percent) of nurses believe needle sticks associated with drawing blood from patients have a moderate to major negative effect on patient experience, according to a survey from Velano Vascular.
Velano Vascular is medical device company, and it surveyed hundreds of nurses from Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.
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Other key findings from the survey include the following:
- Nurses estimated one quarter of patients receive "fishing" or probing during a needle stick.
- Up to 33 percent of all patients have difficult-to-access veins, and that number is expected to increase as more people develop chronic diseases, are obese and age in general.
- Most nurses (82 percent) have some level of concern for accidental needle sticks or other health hazards they encounter during blood draws.
"Nurses are clearly telling us that the process needs improvement from their perspective, and that of their patients," said Kim Henrichsen, MSN, RN, Intermountain's vice president of clinical operations and CNO. "We are committed to pursuing a new standard of care industrywide using technologies and practices that will better serve patients and protect our practitioners."