No Patient Asks to Be Stuck More than Once - B. Braun Unveils New Data-Driven Program Designed to Improve Patients' Experience with Intravenous Therapies

BETHLEHEM, Pa., April 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- B. Braun Medical Inc. (B. Braun), a leader in infusion therapy and pain management, today unveiled Peripheral Advantage^®, a new program that is designed to improve patients' experience with peripheral intravenous (IV) therapy. The comprehensive program combines clinical instruction, data-driven insights and advanced tools to empower nurses to achieve first-stick success and help prevent many of the complications associated with peripheral IV therapy.

Peripheral Advantage, which is now available to all hospitals nationwide, addresses a long tolerated, yet unacceptable reality: Although vascular access is the most common invasive procedure, most nurses are not provided with the training, techniques or tools they need to achieve first-stick success. Only 57% or less of nursing students receive any form of Peripheral Intravenous Catheter (PIVC) training.¹ As a result, many patients endure multiple needle sticks or repeated IV insertions during treatment.

Research shows that PIVC restarts subject patients to discomfort, and most importantly introduce greater risk of infection and other complications, while also generating additional costs.² With up to 69% of peripheral IV lines failing before treatment is completed,³ Peripheral Advantage is designed to decrease the number of PIVCs required to complete therapy.

"No patient asks to be stuck more than once," said Stephanie Pitts, MSN, RN, CPN, VA-BC, Director, Strategy – Therapy Solutions & Programs at B. Braun. "All nurses know how upsetting it can be for patients when it's hard to find a vein or if IV lines must be replaced earlier than expected. We created Peripheral Advantage to provide the training and insights nurses need to break the cycle of repeated needle sticks and multiple IV insertions that are an avoidable aspect of the typical hospital stay."

Peripheral Advantage is designed to optimize clinical skills and product performance for better clinical outcomes. Real-word data is collected throughout the program to provide baseline and ongoing insights and analytics to healthcare leadership to help gauge the program's impact on areas including patient satisfaction, first stick success, IV catheter dwell time, and overall cost containment.

Additional components include:

• Professional on-site clinical instruction: B. Braun's PIVC clinical experts provide nurses with an established curriculum of extensive training on the best techniques for peripheral IV insertions, maintenance and care to help improve their first stick placement, increase dwell time and decrease complications. Peripheral Advantage also includes an accredited online course for which participants can receive continuing education credits.
• A complete set of cutting-edge tools: Training is also provided in the use of B. Braun's advanced tools and products. This includes the company's STEADYCARE^TM Extension Set Technology, which helps stabilize the catheter and maintain the insertion angle, as well as the Introcan Safety^® Family of IV Catheters and VeinViewer^® Vein Visualization Technology, a device distributed by B. Braun that uses near-infrared light to provide clinicians with an accurate view of patients' veins. Collectively, the tools and the education seek to reduce the number of PIVC insertion attempts a patient receives during a given therapy, thus helping to improve patient experience.

"There is a clear need in the healthcare system to improve instruction on the placement and maintenance of IV catheters," said Judy Thompson, MSNEd, RN, VA-BC™, Director of Clinical Education, Association for Vascular Access. "We have been pleased to collaborate with B. Braun on the development of new educational resources for nursing and other healthcare schools. Expanding the use of these training resources to health systems will go a long way to raise the standard of care and improve the experience of caregivers and patients alike."

Interested hospitals and nursing teams can obtain more information on Peripheral Advantage by visiting PeripheralAdvantage.com.

About B. Braun 
B. Braun Medical Inc., a leader in infusion therapy and pain management, develops, manufactures, and markets medical products and services to the healthcare industry. Other key product areas include nutrition, pharmacy admixture and dialysis. The company is committed to eliminating preventable treatment errors and enhancing patient, clinician and environmental safety. B. Braun Medical is headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and is part of the B. Braun Group of Companies in the U.S., which includes B. Braun Interventional Systems, Aesculap^® and CAPS^®.

Globally, the B. Braun Group of Companies employs more than 64,000 employees in 64 countries. Guided by its Sharing Expertise^® philosophy, B. Braun continuously exchanges knowledge with customers, partners and clinicians to address the critical issues of improving care and lowering costs. To learn more about B. Braun Medical, explore our website.

¹ Glover KR, Stahl BR, Murray C, et al. A Simulation-Based Blended Curriculum for Short Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Insertion: An Industry-Practice Collaboration. J Contin Educ Nurs. Sep 1 2017;48(9):397-406.doi:10.3928/00220124-20170816-05.

² Helm RE, Klausner JD, Klemperer JD, Flint LM, Huang E. Accepted but unacceptable: peripheral IV catheter failure. J Infus Nurs. 2015 May-Jun;38(3):189-203. doi: 10.1097/NAN.0000000000000100

³ Cooke M. et al. Not "just" an IV line: consumer perspectives on PIVC. PLoS ONE. 2018;13(2).

SOURCE B. Braun Medical Inc.

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