Assessing nursing students' knowledge and skills in performing venepuncture and inserting peripheral venous catheters.
Venepuncture and the insertion of peripheral venous catheters are common tasks in health care, and training in these procedures is included in nursing programmes. Evidence of nursing students' knowledge and skills in these procedures is limited. The main aim of this study was to assess nursing students' knowledge and skills when performing venepuncture and inserting peripheral venous catheters. Potential associations between level of knowledge and skills, self-training, self-efficacy, and demographic characteristics were also investigated. The assessment was performed by lecturers at a university college in Sweden using the two previously tested instruments "Assess Venepuncture" and "Assess Peripheral Venous Catheter Insertion". Between 81% and 100% of steps were carried out correctly by the students. The step with the highest rating was "Uses gloves", and lowest rating was 'Informs the patients about the possibility of obtaining local anaesthesia'. Significant correlations between degree of self-training and correct performance were found in the group of students who registered their self-training. No associations between demographic characteristics and correct performances were found. Assessing that students have achieved adequate levels of knowledge and skills in these procedures at different levels of the nursing education is of importance to prevent complications and support patient safety.
Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; Red Cross University College, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: catharina.ahlin@rkh.se.
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Ahlin
Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Klang-Söderkvist
Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Johansson
Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Björkholm
Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies, University of Gävle, Sweden; Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of Health Sciences, Haugesund, Norway.
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Löfmark
D000328:Adult; D002406:Catheterization, Peripheral / Q000451:nursing*; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018962:Phlebotomy / Q000451:nursing*; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013338:Students, Nursing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult
Assessment; Clinical skills; Knowledge; Nursing education; Peripheral venous catheters; Venepuncture