Vascular Access Support Team describes how our trained and dedicated Vascular Wellness 24/7, 365 days/week, including holidays, Vascular Support Team (VST) stands at the ready, connecting our vascular access expert clinicians with healthcare partners to deliver prompt, lifesaving vascular access care or consultation during non-clinical hours. Nurse Clinicians in Action is a spotlight series highlighting some of the interesting cases that Vascular Wellness clinicians have encountered and participated in treatment. These cases involve challenging situations or intriguing clinical presentations and may involve more than one Vascular Wellness clinician as our clinicians have the ability to consult each other while in the field, as well as an on-call Clinical Administrator via a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability) compliant communication app. Our extensive training program and diverse client base, including Level 1 Trauma Centers, Short Term Acute Care Hospitals, Long Term Acute Care Hospitals, and Skilled Nursing Facilities, provide our clinicians with a wide array of clinical experience and why we believe our clinicians, as a group, are the most experienced and best trained and supported vascular access clinicians.
Vascular Access Support Team
– Clinical Case
This case occurred in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) unit where a critically ill, morbidly obese patient with sepsis was receiving life-sustaining medications through two peripheral IV drips. The attending physician recognized the patient would soon need central line access. However, due to the patient’s condition, the physician also acknowledged that venous access would be difficult. A consultation request was placed with the Vascular Wellness VST, and a clinician was immediately rerouted to the facility. Unfortunately, prior to the Vascular Wellness clinician’s arrival, both peripheral IVs infiltrated. Not only was the medication unable to reach the patient’s circulatory system, but it was also leaking into the surrounding soft tissue. The urgent situation was now an emergency. The patient’s blood pressure immediately dropped, and the physician attempted to place an emergent central line but was unsuccessful.
Vascular Access Support Team
– Diagnosis and Treatment
In most NCIA stories, we pick up where the Vascular Access expert arrives on the scene. This story begins with the Vascular Wellness VST receiving a service request call. The VST is clinically trained to ask about and record the patient’s condition, medical history, and all pertinent data so that the VST team member can access the situation. Our Vascular Access Support Team works similarly to an emergency room triage system. Because our VST recognized the Vascular Access complication, the VST quickly realized the urgency of the situation and escalated the call to the Administrator on Call, a Vascular Wellness designated expert clinician. Together, they validated the situation, and the VST immediately located, rerouted, and dispatched a Vascular Access Specialist and provided all relevant information to the clinician while en route orally by phone and via the HIPAA-compliant app so that the clinician would arrive with a thorough and documented understanding of the situation and its urgency. Shortly after, the Vascular Wellness clinician arrived at the physician’s side, confirmed her understanding of the situation, including the infiltration, and immediately went to work. Inserting a central line is difficult in obese patients since the vessels are deep and hard to find around the thickness of the skin and tissue. The clinician quickly began utilizing her Ultrasound, carried by all Vascular Wellness clinicians. Using her training, experience, and best practices for the situation, she scanned for venous access on the declining patient. The clinician visualized a deep vein with Ultrasound and, using the dynamic needle tip positioning insertion method, placed a multi-lumen Inter-Jugular central line in minutes. After the successful placement and confirmation of the central line, medications restarted, and the patient stabilized.
Vascular Access Specialists
– Key Points
As Vascular Access Specialists, Vascular Wellness trains all team members, including non-clinicians. Our entire team understands Vascular Access and can determine when situations, such as this one, are urgent. Because our team works in a cohesive manner, we provide unparalleled Vascular Access Services to clients and patients. This case is an excellent example of how Vascular Wellness team members collaborate to deliver lifesaving patient care and how every team member plays a critical role in the process. When a call is received regarding a patient, our VST knows 1) what information to obtain, 2) what follow-up questions to ask to gain clarification, 3) how to evaluate the urgency of the situation, and 4) how to get a clinician on site quickly. Critical cases are properly escalated accordingly per our internal procedures. In such situations, our internal procedures and workflow (incorporating proprietary software) include locating the closest available Vascular Access Specialist for dispatch, providing that clinician with all relevant information, communicating a precise ETA to the client, and ensuring future critical communications can be delivered between the clinician and treating medical team instantly. Collaboration among VST members, clinical nurses, and clients is essential for providing superior patient care. Such collaboration extends to our administration and our entire Vascular Wellness team focus is on client and patient service.
Our Vascular Access Specialists cover a multistate area and can be onsite in an average timeframe of 3 hours. While the average can fluctuate as our team will triage urgent situations similar to what is described above, like other healthcare providers, our advanced trained and VA-BC nurses are onsite in six hours or less 95% of the time. In urgent situations, that time can be within 2 hours or less. In addition, we combine the latest technology with intensive training, which allows our nurse clinicians to achieve access even in complex situations, such as this case, avoiding additional escalations and more waiting time. Vascular Wellness takes great pride in delivering the best outcomes and employs the necessary team members to provide unparalleled patient and client service. We are vascular access specialists who care deeply about each patient and client, and we are committed to helping providers make a difference throughout our service areas. The Vascular Support Team (VST) is part of our commitment to empowering nurses and advancing healthcare.
If you require Vascular Access or want to learn more, speak to the team at Vascular Wellness today. For the latest articles and insights, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Vascular Wellness Serves North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. Expanding to Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
Vascular Wellness provides:
(1) Comprehensive vascular access services to North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia;
(2) Customized vascular access services to Tennessee and Georgia; and
(3) Support vascular access services to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky
