We must rely on non-verbal signals when assessing tolerance to painful procedures. Only the highly skilled caregivers can identify and correlate these signals. There is not a lot of literature supporting NICU practices 1 . Much of the care practices have been adopted from other patient populations, and not scientifically tested in neonates. A technologically specific IV catheter considering the needs of the small neonate may help decrease the number of IV access attempts.
Veins are small and fragile.
The INS Standards of Practice recommends the smallest gauge, shortest length catheter to meet IV therapy requirements be used 3 . Therefore, a very short, very small catheter should be used. Fragile veins imply low tolerance to pH and osmolality. PIV dwell times only average 27-49 hours. Less traumatic insertions and biocompatible catheter material can improve these statistics.