Developing a Nurse-Directed Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter Team in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

In today's medical environment, premature infants are surviving at lower gestational ages and birth weights. The need for minimally invasive consistent vascular access is a life-sustaining therapy for this population. With this greater survival than ever before, the need for a reliable readily available vascular access has reached new priority. This article describes one neonatal intensive care unit's experience in response to that need, as they formed a dedicated neonatal peripherally inserted central catheter team. In addition, strategies for ongoing maintenance and continued success of the peripherally inserted central catheter program are discussed. (C) 2006 Published by Elsevier Inc.