V.I.T.A.L. Assessment Tool: Central Venous Catheter Care and Maintenance (1.0 CE for Nurses)

04-06-2022 02:30 PM

Course Description

While central venous catheters are a valuable tool for treating patients, poor care and maintenance can contribute to negative outcomes. In fact, central venous catheter complications continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality in patients including sepsis, shock and death. Proper care and maintenance of central venous catheters reduces complications and improves outcomes. Appropriate nursing assessment and care for patients with central venous catheters are a multifaceted part of nursing responsibility that support excellent patient outcomes.

Catheter performance, clinical expertise, increased confidence, and improved patient outcomes can all be achieved with effective learning. This course will focus on interventions to improve central venous catheter care and maintenance by utilizing the simple acronym V.I.T.A.L., which stands for verify, inspect, trace, act and listen.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the course, the learner will be able to:

  • Recognize the importance of properly maintained central venous catheters
  • Utilize the V.I.T.A.L. central venous catheter assessment tool to improve clinical practice
  • Explain three benefits of the V.I.T.A.L. assessment tool
  • Apply critical thinking skills to the V.I.T.A.L. assessment tool
  • Verify troubleshooting methods for malfunctioning catheters
Intended Audience

This educational activity was developed for nurses and clinical nurse specialists.

CE Information

This course is approved for 1.0 contact hours by the Florida and California State Boards of Nursing.

Course Authors

This course was developed by Stephen Harris CRNI, VA-BC and edited by Brenda Kozak, MSN, RN, CNE.

Stephen is a founder and Director of Research and Development for Vascular Wellness, and is a provider of basic and advanced vascular access services based in North Carolina.

Brenda is a certified nursed educator and has 18 years of clinical experience in nursing. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing with a focus on education.