Paediatrics and Neonates

The majority of children in hospital require a vascular access device of some description ranging from the peripheral IV, to totally implanted devices, to umbilical catheters, and many more. Children are not little adults, and the insertion and management of their vascular access devices requires a specialist focus. The consequences of our vascular access practice can have a lifelong effect on the child, and their family.

•     Informed clinical decision-making between device types to promote vessel health and preservation across the lifetime
•     Dressing and securement; including vascular access related skin health
•     Infection prevention; through connector and decontamination technology
•     Catheter materials and patency promotion
•     Blood conservation
•     Device care and assessment across hospital and non-hospital environments.

As with other programs our AVATAR paediatric research has a strong focus on the cost-effectiveness of both current, and new, innovations. In partnership with patients and families, leading hospitals, clinical experts and commercial providers, we test products in careful, randomised controlled trials. We also focus on the implementation of our new knowledge into the clinical environment to address the gap between research and practice.

Paediatrics and Neonates Contact: 

Dr Tricia Kleidon (RN, PhD) is a Vascular Access Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Researcher at the Queensland Children's Hospital. Tricia's research priority is to reduce complications of venous access devices to improve treatment outcomes, particularly for children with difficult intravenous access or long-term health conditions. 

If you have any questions regarding our Paediatrics and Neonates work, contact Tricia at Tricia.Kleidon@health.qld.gov.au.