Cannulation

Please ensure that you have completed the sharps safety page in conjunction with this page, click to complete here  

Read the illustrated guide to cannulation on ClinicalSkills.net here: 

You will need to be logged into ClinicalSkills.net to use these pages: Go to ClinicalSkills.net, click login at the top, enter your user name and password. You must have set up your account to do this. For further information on how to login to your ClinicalSkills.net account please click here: How to Login to ClinicalSkills.net

Cannulation in adults

Here is an example of the VIP (Visual Infusion Phlebitis) Scoring Tool which may be used to monitor the health of the cannula site:

The table below shows the different cannula sizes available (gauge, diameter and length), related standardised colour coding and approximate flow rates through each cannula in ml/min and ml/hr:

Click on the button below to navigate to the 'Take a Test' area of ClinicalSkills.net. Please make sure you're logged into ClinicalSkills.net already, otherwise you may not be able to open and take the test. Once you have reached the 'Take a Test' area, select 'Local Tests' and then click on the test called 'Intravenous Cannulation' to begin. You will need to score 80% or more to pass. Make sure you've read the ClinicalSkills.net procedure thoroughly before taking the test as many of the answers will be found within there!

For further practice and development, you might also want to try the additional test below, which focuses on how to care for, use and maintain the health of the cannula and surrounding site. On the Dashboard click on ‘Take a test’ and then select ‘Local tests’. Then click on the test called 'Intravenous Therapy: Care and Use of IV Cannula - SHU'.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). (2017) Healthcare-associated infections: prevention and control in primary and community care. Clinical Guideline 139. London, UK: NICE. 

This guideline covers preventing and controlling healthcare-associated infections in children, young people and adults in primary and community care settings. It provides a blueprint for the infection prevention and control precautions that should be applied by everyone involved in delivering NHS care and treatment. 

http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG139 

The Code: Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). (2018) The Code. Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives. London, UK: NMC.

https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/nmc-publications/nmc-code.pdf 

RCN restrictive physical intervention and the clinical holding of children and young people Guidance 

This guidance sets out children’s and young people’s rights concerning restrictive physical intervention and clinical holding in health care settings within a legal, moral and ethical framework. 

https://www.rcn.org.uk/professional-development/publications/pub-007746 

RCN sharps safety Guidance

Guidance covering the law on sharps injuries, including The Health and Safety (Sharps Instruments in Healthcare Regulations 2013) and its underlying principles as well as its requirements on health care providers. 

https://www.rcn.org.uk/professional-development/publications/pub-004135 

UK Vessel Health and Preservation (VHP) Framework

The VHP is a framework which address the risk factors associated with peripheral intravenous cannulation failure and minimises the damage to the vessel and maximises the patient safety.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/1757177420976806 

Nursing Times: Phlebitis: Treatment, care and prevention 

To access the article, you need to login to the SHU Blackboard.

Phlebitis: treatment, care and prevention - ProQuest  

The Royal Marsden Manual

Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Procedures (9th Edition): Vascular Access Devices- Page730-759

ProQuest Ebook Central - Reader 

Date reviewed: November 2022

Next review: November 2023