A Dedicated Pediatric Intravenous Therapy Team: Five-Year Outcomes of a Nurse-Led Management Model

Abstract

Background: A dedicated pediatric intravenous therapy team may improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of vascular access care by centralizing specialized nursing expertise, standardizing technical procedures, and enhancing complication management. Objectives: This study aimed to describe the establishment and management of a dedicated pediatric intravenous therapy team at a single children's hospital and to report observed changes in service quality and efficiency over a 5-year period using a retrospective before-and-after observational design. Methods: The team was established in 2019. Management strategies included role definition, eligibility criteria, workflow standardization, and performance-based incentives. Indicators of service volume, puncture success rate, complication rate, and regional influence were compared descriptively between the preimplementation and postimplementation periods from 2019 to 2024. Results: After the team was established, the compound annual growth rate of outpatient maintenance procedures reached 44.5%, and the success rate of ultrasound-guided puncture exceeded 98%. The catheter-related infection rate declined to < 1‰. The mean satisfaction rate among pediatric patients and their parents was 99.3%. Although the total number of complications during in-hospital consultations decreased, exudation/bleeding at the PICC puncture site emerged as a new management priority, accounting for 35.3% of complications in 2024. Out-of-hospital consultations rebounded by 80.0% in 2024, and the team provided systematic training to 18 visiting nurses. Conclusions: In this single-center before-and-after observational study, the implementation of a dedicated pediatric intravenous therapy team was associated with improvements in observed nursing quality and efficiency. This model provides a practice-based reference for specialized pediatric nursing management; however, its causal effectiveness requires validation through more rigorous study designs.