Virginia State Council

In the process of working on a "Stop the Line" initiative for our hospital to align with new recommendations from our market and EBP on the need to continue or discontinue IV access for patients who are admitted to the hospital, but whose lines have not been utilized within 24 hours, I have discovered some differences in the education necessary for inpatient and ER nurses. I am the chair of our Shared Decision-Making Council and was once a long time ago an inpatient nurse and interim director so still very actively involved in inpatient processes also. I was speaking with our medical director and nursing director this morning on the thought just generally having been that every ER pt. gets a line and labs drawn because it is just what it is and how we can change that narrative. Both are on board with changing that narrative and coming up with some criteria in which the pt. would be better with a straight stick as opposed to an IV and receiving PO meds and hydration with the ability to reassess need based on labs and trends of vital signs. I was wondering if anyone else was working or had worked on a similar project and with recent data of the necessity not being as necessary for all patients, had any success and guidance in this area. We are currently trying to align our ER practices with the prevention of hospital onset bacteremia, so if anyone has any other information on how they are addressing this initiative in the ER, that would be great.