IV Access By the Numbers:
- The average length of hospital stay is 5-6 days
- 90% of hospitalized patients require IV access
- Standard IV cannulas must be changed every 48-72 hours
- A successful insertion requires, on average, 2.2 sticks
The bottom line: During an average length of stay most patients will experience almost 5 needle sticks at 2 insertion sites.
Needle sticks are a prime patient concern, especially among the growing older population, who are prone to more frequent hospitalizations and whose veins are particularly difficult to find, fragile, and over used.
In addition, IV cannulation is a potential source of hospital acquired infection (HAI).
Yet patients who, upon admission, are expected to be staying the average of 5-6 days still get an IV that will have to be replaced after 48-72 hours. In fact, 300 million standard IV cannulas are used each year in the US alone.
A chart outlining the UN’s social and economic well being rankings for those age 60 and over