AbstractIntroduction: Chemical phlebitis is caused by drug or fluid being infused through IV cannula. Factors such as pH and osmolarity of substances have a significant effect on the incidence of phlebitis. If left untreated, it can lead to infection or thrombus formation. Hence it is essential for the nurses to prevent and treat the phlebitis promptly with cost effective way, thus preventing occurrence of phlebitis during chemotherapy treatment. Material and method: Quasi experimental two groups post-test only design was selected for the study with a sample size 50 in each group. Nonprobability purposive sampling technique was used, patient selected for both groups with lottery method. Inclusion criteria were patient who were receiving chemotherapy, conscious and oriented to time place and person. Exclusion criteria were patient already developed phlebitis at IV infusion site, suffering with peripheral vascular disorder, receiving chemotherapy through central venous catheter or Port A catheters. The control group received hospital existing intervention for the prevention of phlebitis at infusion site, while experimental group received nursing interventions comprised of NS flush, MGSO4 local application and cold application for three days (table no.1, 2). Visual infusion phlebitis scale was used to assess the occurrence of phlebitis. Baseline data was collected from patient. Unpaired t test was used to compare the effectiveness between two groups. Result: In control group the mean score of post-test (0.48) and in Experimental group the mean score of post-test (1.2). Unpaired‘t’ test calculated value for this present study was 2.68 while tabulated’ value was 2.0086 with 98 degrees of freedom (table no.3). There was significant association found between prevention of phlebitis with type of family (7.13), income (4.67), type of cancer (4.28) and systemic disease (6.62). So the null hypothesis was rejected at 0.05 level of significant. Conclusion: The study findings revealed that use of nursing intervention for patient receiving chemotherapy is more effective than the hospital existing practice for the prevention of phlebitis.
Keywords: Nursing intervention; Phlebitis; Chemotherapy.