This article was originally published as: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A VEIN ASSESSMENT TOOL (VAT)
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Abstract
Objective: To assess the face validity and the inter-rater reliability of the Vein Assessment Tool (VAT) for classifying veins according to their level of intravenous insertion difficulty.
Design: Prospective observational study.
Participants: Eight nurses and two radiographers from the Medical Imaging Department and five nurses from the Haematology Day Patient Unit of a large tertiary hospital.
Intervention: Assessments of veins in the upper limb were undertaken independently by nurses from two departments of a major tertiary hospital.
Main outcome measure: Level of inter-rater agreement assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC).
Results: A total of 125 independent assessments were made by 15 nurses. The mean percentage agreement between raters from Medical Imaging was 84% (SD 10.7; range 60% to 100%) and between raters from Oncology was 92% (SD 17.9; range 60% to 100%). The inter-rater reliability was very high for the ten medical imaging raters 0.83 (95% confidence interval CI = 0.61 – 0.95) and for the Oncology raters 0.93 (95% CI = 0.77–0.99).
Conclusion: The Vein Assessment Tool (VAT) has been validated by a sample of nurses with cannulating experience. Following broader testing it may be useful for research studies or by nurses who wish to objectively describe the condition of a vein for clinical purposes.
Authors
- Joan Webster
- Helen-Louise Morris
- Katharine Robinson RN, Katharine Robinson RN,
- Ursula Sanderson
Keywords
catherterisation, peripheral, vein cannulation, vien quality, inter-rater reliability
References
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