A structured learning programme for venepuncture and cannulation

This article discusses a structured learning programme that offers a standardised assessment for all healthcare staff to learn venepuncture and/or cannulation. Nurses from four NHS trusts in London and the south east, with a special interest and expertise in cannulation and venepuncture, devised the programme to reduce the need for repeated training and assessment when staff take up new posts within these trusts. The authors in their respective trusts have used the tool over a four-year period and findings from a study in Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust are presented to demonstrate its use by staff. The tool has recently been reviewed by its authors and is being disseminated to organisations across the United Kingdom (UK). These organisations will evaluate it, with a long-term objective to standardise the training and assessment of venepuncture and cannulation across the UK.