Venepuncture

Accountability,
Competency and
Professional
Practice
© Vein Train Ltd 2012- 0845 213 0266

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What will be discussed?
q What is accountability?
q Who is accountable?
q What is professionalism?

q Who should perform venepuncture and/or cannulation?
q What does the law say?
q The Vein Train Pathway to Competence
© Vein Train Ltd 2012- 0845 213 0266

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What Is Accountability?
—  ‘the obligation of being answerable for one’s own judgements and
actions (omissions) to an appropriate person’ Oxford Nurses
Minidictionary

—  Legal accountability for everyone & all professionals are personally
accountable through law for their actions & omissions

—  ‘NMC defines accountability as “responsible for something or

someone”, and to be responsible requires knowledge’ (Collins M,
Douherty L, Phillips S, Venepuncture & Cannulation, WileyBlackwell, 2011)

— 

Accountability is the hallmark of a profession Watson (2004)

—  Simply, accountability is about justifying actions, explaining
why something was [or was not] done.
©
. Vein Train Ltd 2012 - 0845 213 0266

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Who are we accountable to?
Arenas of accountability:

—  Public – through criminal law/court – ‘Manslaughter prosecutions will
be tried under criminal law – the administration of a cytotoxic drug
intrathecally instead of IV resulted in the death of a patient, 2 doctors
where successfully prosecuted & charged with manslaughter.’ (Dryer
1991)

—  Employer – through contract law

—  Patient – through a duty of care and common law of negligence

—  Profession – through the code of conduct and related documents
© Vein Train Ltd 2012 - 0845 213 0266
[Dimond 1995]

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Who should practice these
Skills?
Intravenous cannula insertion will
be carried out by trained and
competent staff using strictly
aseptic techniques
(DH, 2003).

© Vein Train Ltd 2012 - 0845 213 0266

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Professional Approach
The people in your care must be able to...