Over half of patients receiving RRT on discharge from critical care in our network received a short period of single-organ renal support before step-down. This may represent either delayed discharge from critical care or a potential opportunity for care in an alternative high-dependency facility.

Introduction: Nepal Nursing Council issued a notice regarding the inclusion of men in nursing in June 2018. Even with this mandate, only a handful of male students claimed the reservation for nursing education. This study aimed to determine the intention of pursuing nursing as a career and its associated factors among male students in the schools of Banepa Municipality, Kavre, Nepal. Method: A quantitative analytical cross-sectional research design was adopted and data was collected via convenience sampling technique. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered among male students of grade 10 of the selected schools. Result: Among 190 respondents, only 11.8% had an intention to pursue the nursing profession as a career. Global opportunities, challenging careers, and reasonable pay were apparent factors that influenced students. However, lack of social support, lack of role model, disrespect, and unpleasant work environment was the major inhibiting factors. Furthermore, the intention to pursue nursing as a career was significantly common among the male students who were acquainted with a nurse and had exposure to nursing care. Conclusion: The majority of the participants had a positive perception of nursing but did not prefer to pursue nursing as a career due to lack of social support, lack of role models, disrespect, and an unpleasant work environment.

ObjectivesThere is a lack of data regarding the quality of peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC)-related care from low-income and middle-income countries, even though the use of PIVCs may lead to local or severe systemic infections. Our main objective was to assess the feasibility and inter-rater agreement on the PIVC-mini Questionnaire (PIVC-miniQ) in a tertiary care hospital in Nepal.DesignWe performed an observational cross-sectional quantitative study using the PIVC-miniQ to collect information on PIVC quality.SettingSecondary care in a Nepalese hospital. All patients with PIVCs in selected wards were included in the study and PIVCs were assessed independently by two raters. Eight Nepalese nurses, one Nepalese student and three Norwegian students participated as raters.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), positive, negative, absolute agreement, Scott’s pi and sum score were calculated using PIVC-miniQ. We also aimed to describe PIVC quality of care, as it is important to prevent PIVC-associated complications such as phlebitis or catheter-associated bloodstream infections.ResultsA total of 390 patients (409 PIVCs) were included in the study. The ICC between raters was 0.716 for Nepalese raters, 0.644 for Norwegian raters and 0.481 for the pooled data. The most frequently observed problems associated with PIVCs were blood in the intravenous line (51.5%), pain and tenderness on palpation (43.4%), and fixation with opaque tape (38.5%). The average sum score was 3.32 deviations from best practice for PIVCs fixed with non-sterile opaque tape and 2.37 for those fixed with transparent dressing (p<0.001).ConclusionThe PIVC-miniQ is a feasible and reliable tool for nurses assessing PIVC quality in hospitalised patients in Nepal. The study revealed gaps in PIVC quality and care that could be improved by providing transparent PIVC dressings for all patients and requiring all PIVC insertions to be documented in patient charts.