Effectiveness of Air Elimination in Intravenous Fluid Tube by Using Closed System

Abstract

Air embolism is a dangerous complication that can occur while patients receiving intravenous fluid (IV). Nurses are required to have skills to take care of this matter. This quasi-experimental study was conducted in nursing laboratory to investigate time spent, satisfaction, and possibility to practice on the removal of air from the IV tube using a closed system. The participating samples consisted of 30 registered nurses who practiced in pediatric units at Saraburi Hospital. The experiment began with all participants watching the video that demonstrate of eliminating air from IV tube using the closed system, backward demonstration, and practice of eliminating air from IV tube while research assistant recorded the time spent. Each participant was asked to complete the satisfaction and possibility to practice questionnaires for the removal of air from IV tube using closed system. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistic including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The results showed that the samples spent average of 1.49 minutes (SD=0.30 min) in eliminating air from IV tube with moderate level of overall satisfaction (Mean=29.43, SD=1.74) and high satisfaction towards effectiveness (Mean=8.70, SD=0.79). The feasibility of using this practice guideline was expressed as high and very high levels, 56.0% and 32.7% respectively. The authors concluded that eliminating air from IV tube should be performed by using the closed system in order to ensure aseptic technique and reduce the cost.