Establishing a Dedicated Difficult Vascular Access Team in the Emergency Department: A Needs Assessment.

Peripheral vascular access is one of the most common procedures performed in emergency departments across the United States. Successful venipuncture is critical in providing timely diagnosis and treatments for patients. The aim of this article is to describe a needs assessment performed in a level-one academic emergency department to establish the need for a dedicated team for patients with difficult vascular access. Results from this assessment suggest that difficult vascular access represents tangible threats to patient safety and increased use of resources.