Governance and Scholarly Activities

Liverpool Central Venous Access Service Research Scholarly Activities

a) Resources in research – Nil

b) Current Research Activities

• The use of the axillary vein as an alternative to the subclavian vein for central venous catheter placement – an systematic review (in progress)
• Optimising vessel health and preservation; the 5 rights of vascular access (in progress)
• International point prevalence study on peripheral cannulae (One Million Global catheters - OMG Study) – in progress
• Assessing the quality of CVC and PICC video content on YouTube™ - submitted to The Journal of the Association for Vascular Access (JAVA) 2013
• RSVP Trial – NHMRC Funded Study – Griffith University – currently seeking staff for data collection.

c) Publication record for 2012-2013

Publications 2014

Central venous catheter placement by advanced practice nurses demonstrate low procedural complication and infection rates - a report from 13 years of service - Alexandrou E, Spencer TR, Frost SA, Mifflin N, Davidson PM, Hillman KM - Critical Care Medicine (Feb 2014)

Publications 2013

Preventing contamination at the time of central venous catheter insertion: a literature review and recommendations for clinical practice, Nicholas Yacopetti, Patricia M Davidson, Joy Blacka and Timothy R Spencer Journal of Clinical Nursing, March 2013 Volume 22, Issue 5-6, pages 611–620

Poster Presentation - Central Venous Access Device Management in Critically Ill Adults, Developing A Clinical Practice Guideline for NSW, Margherita Murgo, Jeff Breeding, Timothy R Spencer, Claire M Rickard, ANZICS/ACCCN Intensive Care Annual Scientific Meeting, Hobart, 17-19 October 2013
Publications 2012

Alexandrou E, Murgo, M Calabria E, Spencer, T, Carpen H, Brennan K, Frost SA, Davidson PM, Hillman KM, Nurse-led central venous catheter insertion - procedural characteristics and outcomes of 3 intensive care based catheter placement services,
International Journal of Nursing Studies, 2012 Feb;49(2):162-8

(Invited Commentary) Higher nurse staffing levels associated with reductions in unplanned readmissions to intensive care or operating theatre, and in postoperative in-hospital mortality in heart surgery patients
SA Frost, E Alexandrou, Evidence Based Nursing 2012 (in press)

Training of Undergraduate Clinicians in Vascular Access: An Integrative Review E Alexandrou, L Ramjan, J Murphy, L Hunt, V Betihavas, SA Frost
Journal of the Association for Vascular Access 17 (3), 146-158 2012

A comparison of fluid instillation volumes to assess intra-abdominal pressure using Kron’s methods L Hunt, H Van Luenen, E Alexandrou, SA Frost, PM Davidson, K Hillman, S D’Amours
The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery 73 (1), 152-155 2012

Importance of Predictors of Rehospitalisation in Heart Failure: A Survey of Heart Failure Experts V Betihavas, PJ Newton, SA Frost, E Alexandrou, PS Macdonald, PM Davidson
Heart, Lung and Circulation 2012

d) Any future direction you may have for 2013
See above entries for research activities currently in progress.

e) External Governance and Scholarly Activities
Tim Spencer – Journal for the Association for Vascular Access – Editorial Board
Tim Spencer – Board Member - Vascular Access Certification Corporation
Tim Spencer – Founding President – Australian Vascular Access Society
Tim Spencer – NSW Intensive Care Coordination and Monitoring Unit (ICCMU) and the Nursing and Midwifery Office (NAMO), CVAD Guideline Development Network (GDN) Co-Chair, Central Venous Access Device Post Insertion Management Project
Tim Spencer - Association for Vascular Access Global Strategic Committee
Tim Spencer - World Congress in Vascular Access Global Strategic Committee
Tim Spencer - Cancer Nurses Society of Australia CVAD Guideline Working Group

Evan Alexandrou – Journal for the Association for Vascular Access – Editorial Board
Evan Alexandrou – Journal for the Association for Vascular Access – Editorial Advisory Board
Evan Alexandrou – Founding Member - Australian Vascular Access Society
Evan Alexandrou – Design Team – Scientific Meeting Committee) - Association for Vascular Access
Evan Alexandrou – Submission of Doctoral Thesis (2013) – Curtin University

Tim and Evan are involved with a number of local, state and national committees to improve vascular access practices for healthcare practitioners.