Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) insertion is a routine procedure in emergency departments (EDs), yet current practice often deviates from evidence-based standards. Research highlights key issues, including unnecessary (idle) catheter insertion, overuse of antecubital fossa (ACF) sites, and limited patient involvement in decision-making. These gaps can lead to avoidable patient harm, reduced comfort, and inefficient use of resources. This intermediate-level session will provide an evidence-informed overview of these challenges and the factors driving them. In this session, we will examine the evidence–practice gap in ED PIVC care and identify practical, patient-centered strategies to improve clinical decision-making and outcomes.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, learners will be able to: 
• Analyze the current gaps between evidence-based guidelines and real-world PIVC practices in emergency departments 
• Evaluate the clinical, behavioral, and system-level factors contributing to suboptimal practices, including ACF insertion and idle catheter use
• Apply evidence-based and patient-centered strategies to improve PIVC decision-making, insertion, and care in the ED setting

CRNI® RUs: This session has been approved for 2 CRNI® recertification units and meets the non INS Meeting criteria.

Contact Hours: This session has been approved for 1 contact hour

Expiration date for receipt of contact hours: May 27, 2029

To receive contact hours for this educational activity, you are required to attend the entire educational activity and complete the evaluation.

The Infusion Nurses Society is approved as a provider of continuing nursing education by the California Board of Registered Nursing, provider #CEP14209. The certificate must be retained by the attendee for a period of 4 years.

Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) practices often vary across clinicians and care settings, contributing to inconsistencies in care and increased risk of complications. This session will review current organizational practices and highlight common variations identified in the literature, while discussing evidence-based standards for PIVC insertion, assessment, and maintenance, including site selection, aseptic non-touch technique (ANTT®), and standardized assessment tools such as i-DECIDED. The presentation will also share results from a quality improvement initiative aimed at reducing practice variation through product standardization, insertion checklists, competency-based education, and validation audits. Outcomes related to adherence and infection prevention will be discussed, along with practical strategies for translating quality improvement results into sustainable organizational practice change.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, learners will be able to: 
• Discuss the existing concerns with PIVC practices
• Describe the professional standards and recommendations for PIVC practice
• Demonstrate actions to eliminate discrepancies between existing practices and professional standards
• Apply quality improvement (QI) project results to organizational practice change 

CRNI® RUs: This session has been approved for 2 CRNI® recertification units and meets the non INS Meeting criteria.

Contact Hours: This session has been approved for 1 contact hour

Expiration date for receipt of contact hours: April 22, 2029

To receive contact hours for this educational activity, you are required to attend the entire educational activity and complete the evaluation.

The Infusion Nurses Society is approved as a provider of continuing nursing education by the California Board of Registered Nursing, provider #CEP14209. The certificate must be retained by the attendee for a period of 4 years.

Presented by BD

Catheter-associated thrombosis (CAT) is a potential complication of vascular access devices, including PICCs, that can result in therapy interruption, increased cost of care, and patient consequences including phlebitis and pulmonary embolism, and there are multiple modifiable (e.g., catheter size, insertion, and location confirmation methods) and non-modifiable risk factors for CAT. A retrospective study of patients with PICCs placed by vascular access nurses was conducted following a quality improvement initiative at a hospital within a 1200-bed health system in the Philadelphia area, and a pre-post analysis compared CAT rates before and after a multi-year intervention targeting modifiable risk factors. Across the health system, very low CAT rates (1.2%) were observed in the post-intervention period compared with a pre-intervention rate of 4.6%, and for every 1,000 PICC placements the economic model predicted cost savings exceeding $1M USD due to avoided thrombosis, demonstrating that small improvements to controllable elements of catheter care can result in significant reductions in the risk of CAT and associated costs.

CRNI® RUs: 2

CRNI® RUs: This session has been approved for 2 CRNI® recertification units and meets the non INS Meeting criteria.

Vascular access clinicians operate in a context where research evidence, guidelines, and best-practice recommendations are often widely available, yet practice and patient outcomes remain variable. This variability reflects persistent knowledge–practice gaps and the challenges health services, researchers, and clinicians face in implementing new evidence and changing established clinical practice.

This session focuses on practical methods to implement vascular access evidence into everyday practice and promote the sustained uptake over time. Using real-world case exemplars from central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) prevention and device assessment initiatives, the session will demonstrate how to embed evidence into clinical workflows, assign clear ownership, and measure fidelity and outcomes. The session will focus on actionable strategies clinicians can use in their health services to drive change through translation. 

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, learners will be able to: 
• Describe common reasons evidence fails to translate into routine vascular access practice, including workflow misalignment, lack of ownership, and inadequate measurement of fidelity
• Discuss practical implementation strategies that embed evidence into everyday vascular access workflows, including standardization, decision support, audit and feedback, and accountability structures
• Explain how to design simple but robust measurement systems (process, outcome, and balancing measures) to evaluate implementation success and support sustained practice change

CRNI® RUs: This session has been approved for 2 CRNI® recertification units and meets the non INS Meeting criteria.

Contact Hours: This session has been approved for 1 contact hour

Expiration date for receipt of contact hours: March 18, 2029

To receive contact hours for this educational activity, you are required to attend the entire educational activity and complete the evaluation.

The Infusion Nurses Society is approved as a provider of continuing nursing education by the California Board of Registered Nursing, provider #CEP14209. The certificate must be retained by the attendee for a period of 4 years.

This session examines how smart pump–electronic health record (EHR) interoperability improves infusion safety, accuracy, and workflow efficiency. Participants will explore how bidirectional data exchange between pumps and EHRs reduces manual programming errors and enhances clinical decision-making. The discussion will highlight key technical and clinical components that support safe, reliable integration, along with real-world outcomes demonstrating error reduction and workflow optimization. Common challenges, such as data mapping, validation, and user adoption will be addressed, with practical strategies for overcoming them. Attendees will also learn how to use interoperability data and continuous quality improvement (CQI) methods to monitor performance and drive ongoing safety improvements. By the end of the session, participants will gain a clear understanding of how to implement, sustain, and optimize interoperable infusion systems.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, learners will be able to: 

• Understand the role of smart pumps in enhancing infusion safety
• Recognize the benefits and challenges of interoperability with clinical systems
• Explain how smart pump EHR interoperability enhances infusion safety and workflow efficiency
• Identify key technical and clinical components of interoperable infusion systems
• Summarize current evidence and outcomes from interoperability implementations
• Recognize common challenges and strategies for maintaining safe, reliable integration
• Utilize data and CQI methods to monitor and improve interoperable infusion practices
• Identify best practices for drug library programming and maintenance

CRNI® RUs: This session has been approved for 2 CRNI® recertification units and meets the non INS Meeting criteria.

Contact Hours: This session has been approved for 1 contact hour

Expiration date for receipt of contact hours: January 29, 2029

To receive contact hours for this educational activity, you are required to attend the entire educational activity and complete the evaluation.

The Infusion Nurses Society is approved as a provider of continuing nursing education by the California Board of Registered Nursing, provider #CEP14209. The certificate must be retained by the attendee for a period of 4 years.