British journal of nursing (Mark Allen Publishing)
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Hand hygiene is one of the most effective measures for preventing infections. The annual NHS staff survey in England provides national and local data on how staff feel about working in the NHS. It also provides staff with the opportunity to give their views on the availability of hand-washing materials. ⋯ Staff on both wards and in the community buildings highlighted what other materials were required for hand hygiene, and steps were made to provide these. The audit allowed hand-hygiene practices to be benchmarked across the trust and increased staff awareness of improving hand hygiene. As a result of this audit, the hand-hygiene compliance score increased from 80% to 95%.
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Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) are a popular device for long-term vascular access. They were introduced into practice in the US in the 1970s, but only gained popularity in the UK during the 1990s (Gabriel, 1995). ⋯ This should ultimately reduce complication and risk during insertion. The purpose of this article is to offer a guide to safe PICC insertion by providing an overview of anatomy and physiology and focusing on some of the main complications of PICC insertion and methods along with ways of reducing these.
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Comparative Study
Peripheral cannulation versus peripheral inserted central catheter.