This paper will review and critique Hess's quantitative study of vascular access improvement in pediatric population by using a vein viewing device. The author utilized a prospective, non-randomized study at a tertiary care center. The sample of the study included 150 procedures in the control group and 91 procedures in the experimental group from the ages 0 to 17 years. The primary aim of the study was to increase the first-attempt success rate of venipuncture and decrease procedure time for the study population.
Problem and Purpose The author of this study reveals the widespread problem of the venipuncture among the pediatric population and clearly states the purpose of the study. Hess (2010) associated the failure of the vascular access with some anatomical, physical, physiological and clinician-related factors. The research purpose of this quantitative study was to evaluate the use of a biomedical device-Vein Viewer in increasing success rate of venipuncture performed by staff nurses (Hess, 2010). The author states three measurements: "1)percent of the first-attempt success, 2) number of attempts per patient, and 3) time needed to complete the procedure." The study purpose flows logically from the problem, which points out the common failure of the first venipuncture attempt (Hess, 2010).
Review of Literature Hess adequately expounds the review of literature, using appropriate scientific studies and clearly demonstrated the importance of the research question. More than half of the sources of the reference list (total 24) were dated within the last five years. However, ten cited articles were older than thirteen years. Additionally, the Vein Viewer is a relatively new device on the health care market. Therefore, there is lack of substantial research regarding its validation and usefulness. Hess is one of the first investigators to evaluate the biomedical device Vein Viewer in a pediatric population.
Conceptual and Theoretical Framework