Impact of a WeChat-based intervention on nurses knowledge and practice in peripheral venous catheter insertion

TL;DR

A WeChat-based training program improved nurses' knowledge and skills in inserting peripheral IV catheters, leading to better patient safety and care quality.

Contribution

This study demonstrates that a WeChat-based educational intervention can effectively enhance nurses' knowledge and clinical practice in peripheral venous catheter insertion.

Findings

The intervention group showed significantly higher knowledge and practice scores than the control group after the WeChat-based training.

Improvements in knowledge and practice were maintained 4 weeks after the intervention.

The control group showed no significant changes in scores over time.

Abstract

Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) insertion is a constituted a routine invasive clinical procedure predominantly performed by nursing staff in hospital settings. While essential for short-term intravenous therapy administration, this intervention carried inherent risk of procedure-related complications due to its invasive characteristics. Consequently, enhancing nurses’ clinical knowledge and operational competencies in PIVC placement and maintenance emerged as a critical determinant of patient safety and therapeutic outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of knowledge and behaviour on nurses’ implementation of peripheral intravenous catheters via a WeChat push-based service. The findings provided empitical evidence to guide the formulation of targeted nurse education programs and optimize training strategies, thereby contributing to healthcare service quality improvement and enhanced patient safety protocols. This study enrolled 144 nurses from a tertiary general hospitalin China, conducted between March and September 2024. To align with clinical practices in China and ensure data validity, the research team revised the survey instruments based on three national standards: the Chinese version of the Standard Guide to Practice Standards for Intravenous Infusion Therapy (2021 edition), the Standard of Practice for Intravenous Therapy Nursing Techniques (WS/T 433-2023), and the Clinical Nursing Practice Guidelines for Common Complications of Intravenous Catheters, supplemented by a systematic review of relevant domestic literature. For the intervention group, targeted educational content on PIVC placement was developed and delivered through the WeChat platform. Participants received 2–3 concise messages teice daily over a 10-day period. Both the intervention and control groups underwent standardized assessments of PIVC knowledge and clinical skills at three time points: preintervention, postintervention, and 4-week follow-up. This study enrolled 123 nurses, with 64 assigned to the intervention group and 59 to the control group. At baseline, no significant difference existed in mean knowledge (4.38 vs. 4.53, P > 0.05) or practice scores (8.60 vs. 9.03, P > 0.05) between the the two groups. Following the intervention, the intervention group demonstrated significantly higher knowledge scores than the control group both immediately postintervention (8.55 vs. 4.54, P < 0.001) and 4 weeks postintervention (8.17 vs. 5.20, P < 0.001). Within the intervention group, knowledge scores immediate postintervention were marginally higher than those at 4-week postintervention (8.55 vs. 8.17). Similary, the intervention group achieved significantly higher practice scores than the control group at both follow-up timepoints: immediate postintervention (12.08 vs. 8.68, P < 0.001) and 4 weeks postintervention (11.90 vs. 8.74, P < 0.001). On the other hand, the mean scores of the nurses’ practical manoeuvres were slightly higher in the immediate postintervention period than at 4 weeks postintervention (12.08 vs. 11.90). In contrast, the control group showed no significant differences in knowledge or practice scores across all assessment timepoints (all P > 0.05). The WeChat-based educational intervention model singnificantly enhanced nurses’ knowledge acquisition and clinical practice proficiency in PIVC placement. These findings suggest that implementing such technology-driven pedagogical approaches in nursing education systems could effectively support the long-term objectives of sustaining quality improvement in clinical care and advancing professional competency development.

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