For the first time in India, international conference in Kochi to launch infusion standards

The Indian chapter of US-based Infusion Nurses Society is holding a two-day conference at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi to launch infusion standards, for the first time in India.

The standard of practice acts as a guide for bringing up a structure that guide how nurses handle and take care of patients on fluids, chemo-therapeutic agents, blood transfusion and the like.

Infusion is a specialized area and is integral to nursing practice at all levels as they provide care to patients in administering fluids, medication or blood products or by maintaining arterial catheters.

Specialists in infusion nursing is as important as specialty doctors. These nurses are responsible for monitoring patients, maintaining the lines, tubings and dressings, recognizing potential drug interactions, identifying and preventing complications of therapy.

Trained infusion nurses contribute to lessen complications, reduce length and cost of hospitalization. It is an advanced and specialized area of practice, which is research-based and propelled by medical and technological advancements.

This is the third such conference being held in India on November 21-22 and will be addressed by national and international experts from the field. A National Data Repository Centre (NDRC) for registering and benchmarking complications related to I V therapy - one of its kind - will also be rolled out during the conference, besides launching e-courses in infusion practice.

Infusion Nurses Society (INS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the specialty practice of infusion nursing. INS-US was founded 40 years ago to support infusion healthcare professionals by providing educational programmes, establishing standards of practice and disseminating research through peer reviewed publications - Journal of Infusion Nursing. It has over 7,000 members in 39 countries and 3,300 nurses certified in infusion nursing.

The Indian chapter, formed in December 2010, seeks to promote standards for safe infusion practice, provide professional development opportunities and quality education, advance the specialty through research and evidence-based practice and support professional certification.

Intravenous therapy is an irreplaceable part of medical treatment regime, with more than 90% of the hospitalized patients receiving some form or intravenous therapy like drug delivery, fluid administration, blood substitution or nutritional support. However, it carries associated risks both for the patient and the healthcare worker, causing an increase in mortality and morbidity rate, duration of hospital stay and health costs.

These risks unfortunately are difficult to identify since their consequences are not immediately obvious hence are often attributed to other sources. Thus it becomes essential to have the policies and guidelines developed to standardize the safe infusion practices.

Amrita Hospital and University was set up in 1998 as a super speciality hospital providing primary and specialty care medical services.

This massive healthcare infrastructure with over 3,330,000 square feet of built-up area spread over 125 acres of land, supports a daily patient volume of about 3000 out patients with 95 percent in patient occupancy.

Annual patient turnover touches an incredible figure of over 779,055 out patients and nearly 47,577 in patients.

AIMS extensive infrastructure offers facilities comprising 25 modern operating theatres, 210 equipped intensive-care beds, a fully computerized and networked Hospital Information System (HIS), a fully digital radiology department, NABL accredited clinical laboratories and 24x7 telemedicine service.