Effectiveness of Peripheral Intravenous Skill Continuing Education Using Low-Fidelity Simulation Among Nurses in India

Background: Many nurses have limited opportunities to practice peripheral intravenous (IV) skill access until they begin their nursing career, particularly in limited resource settings. Continuing nursing education is needed for practicing nurses to build nurse capacity and skill accuracy in IV access globally. Method: A pretest-posttest design was used to measure effectiveness of peripheral IV continuing education among 180 nurses in India. A skills checklist was used to observe for skill accuracy using low-fidelity simulation. Results: A statistically significant improvement in knowledge regarding peripheral IV skill access and care was found (p < .001), and 95% of nurse participants successfully simulated IV access accuracy after the continuing education intervention. Conclusion: Findings support the need for continuing nursing education to improve peripheral IV access and care knowledge and skill among nurses, particularly in low- and middle-income countries or other settings where hands-on experience is limited during undergraduate nursing education programs.