Knowledge of Intravenous Cannulation among Interns of a Teaching Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Health care professionals are expected to have a basic understanding of all procedures performed on the patient. Their knowledge has direct implications on patients' morbidity. Interns perform intravenous cannulation during their clinical rotation, their awareness about the procedure are unknown. The aim of this study was to find the knowledge of intravenous cannulation among the interns of the teaching hospital. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a teaching hospital from November 2020 to October 2021 after clearance from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 2611202002). A total of 151 interns were taken using the convenience sampling method. We prepared a structured questionnaire. This was distributed among interns who had completed 6 months of internship. Data entry and analysis was done using Microsoft Excel. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. RESULTS: Out of 151 interns, 84 (55.62%) (47.70-63.54 at 95% Confidence Interval) had knowledge about intravenous cannulation. Most of the interns 117 (77.48%) had knowledge about the appropriate place for cannulation. Awareness about serious complications of cannulation was poor; 106 (70.19%) had never heard of these terms. Handwashing was implied as important by 70 (46.36%). CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge about intravenous cannulation among interns of teaching hospitals was poor compared to the similar study done in a similar setting.