Management of intravenous therapy in general wards of a large teaching hospital.

The monitoring of intravenous therapy by nursing staff in medical wards over an 18 hour period was studied. The study focused on the measuring or flow rates, the technique used for unblocking intravenous lines and how recording was managed. Only intravenous therapy which was likely to be in situ for longer than a 24 hour period was studied in randomly selected medical wards. Procedures were carried out by all categories of staff. Although timing devices were used for flow rates they were still incorrect. A need for improved recording was established and no clearly defined methods for unblocking intravenous lines were found.