October 13 is World Thrombosis Day (WTD), observed every year on the birthday of the German physician, biologist and anthropologist Rudolf Virchow, the man credited with being the ‘father of modern pathology’ who pioneered the pathophysiology of thrombosis.
WTD is dedicated to raising more awareness about the often-misunderstood condition of thrombosis, and so this year, the Australian College of Nursing (ACN), in association with Arjo, is inviting you to the Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) webinar (free of charge) to learn about VTE Prevention and the Australian VTE Clinical Care Standard.
The webinar will be presented by Rodney Neale, the Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH). Rodney has advanced knowledge and skills in the management of patients with, or at risk of VTE.
In his current role, he is responsible for audits on VTE, monitoring patient outcomes and/or complications and providing patient and staff education. He sits on a number of local and state-wide anticoagulation and patient safety related committees and working groups including the State-wide VTE Working Group and State-wide Anticoagulation Working Group.
Rodney has contributed to the development of the Queensland State-wide VTE guideline and risk assessment tool and was a member of the VTE Topic Working Group which developed the national VTE Prevention Clinical Care Standard.
What is VTE?
VTE is a potentially preventable disease that includes Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and Pulmonary Embolism (PE). VTE results in complications such as post thrombotic syndrome, pulmonary hypertension, recurrent thrombosis, or death. VTE is estimated to:-
- account for 10% of all deaths in Australian hospitals
- cost the Australian health system $1.72 billion annually[i].
- be the third most common cardiovascular disease globally, with an annual incidence of over 10 million people.[ii]
VTE prevention strategies have been shown to reduce the incidence of VTE by about 70%. However, despite the availability of international evidence-based best-practice guidelines for the prevention of VTE, data suggests that a significant proportion of patients at risk of VTE do not receive care as recommended in current guidelines.[iii][iv][v]
Is this webinar for me?
The webinar is designed to provide the audience with an overview of VTE, its complications and most importantly how we, as clinicians, in collaboration with patients and carers, can potentially prevent VTE events occurring.
As a result, it is especially relevant to nurses and clinicians who are interested in VTE outcomes including Clinical Governance, Quality and Risk, Clinical Education, as well as for nurse managers or clinical nurses who work work in high risk areas such as OT, ICU/HDU, orthopaedics, neuro and surgical specialties.
The webinar will also address challenges that nurses often face when it comes to VTE prevention, such as:
- Inadequate VTE risk assessment tools
- Inability to identify patients most at risk
- Lack of knowledge surrounding International, National and local best practise guidelines
- Inadequate knowledge of the clinical evidence in reducing a VTE event
- Improve engagement with medical team
- Inadequate resources to undergo VTE audits
What role, as a nurse, can I play in VTE prevention?
Depending on the facility, your responsibility as a nurse may vary in regards to VTE prevention. However, as an overview, here’s how any nurse can play a role in reducing VTE events in their facility:
- Ensuring a VTE risk assessment of all admitted patients is completed
- Ensuring appropriate VTE prophylaxis is provided
- If the above is not completed, nurses can be patient advocates for raising these issues with the medical ream
- Patient education
If you’re interested in VTE outcomes and prevention and advancing your professional development, make sure you register for the webinar.
Date: Thursday 10th October
Time: 2-3pm EST
Cost: Free of charge
Register: ACN Registration
This session is equivalent to 1 continuing professional development (CPD) hour from the Australia College of Nursing.
Arjo is a global supplier of medical devices, services and solutions and one of their many offerings include VTW prevention and diagnostics.
Reference List
[i] Access Economics Pty Ltd for the Australia and New Zealand working party on the management and prevention of venous thromboembolism. The burden of venous thromboembolism in Australia, 1 May 2008. Access Economics Pty Ltd; 2008.
[ii] https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2019/new-guidelines-venous-thromboembolism
[iii] Cohen AT, Tapson VF, Bergmann J-F,Goldhaber SZ, Kakkar AK, Deslandes B, et al.Venous thromboembolism risk and prophylaxis in the acute hospital care setting (ENDORSE study): a multinational cross-sectional study. Lancet. 2008;371(9610):387–94.
[iv] Kahn SR, Panju A, Geerts W, Pineo GF, Desjardins L, Turpie AG, et al. Multicenter evaluation of the use of venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in acutely ill medical patients in Canada. Thromb Res. 2007;119(2):145–55.
[v] Tapson VF, Decousus H, Pini M, Chong BH, Froehlich JB, Monreal M, et al. Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in acutely ill hospitalized medical patients: findings from the International Medical Prevention Registry on Venous Thromboembolism. Chest. 2007;132(3):936–45.
