In searching for a topic pertaining to my area of nursing specialty, I began my search in Google and searched “trends in I.V. therapy”. This topic is of interest to me because as a high tech infusion home care nurse, I currently have been seeing an increase in peripheral intravenous (PIV) infections. Due to insurance cut backs and their refusals to pay for hospital admissions patients are being discharged home to receive their IV antibiotic therapy or other peripheral medications. As a high tech IV infusion nurse myself, I am responsible for instructing and educating my patients on proper hand hygiene prior to any contact of their PIV and medication. Infection control is so important when dealing with peripheral intravenous lines, hand hygiene, aseptic technique and cleansing the area prior to placement are top priorities (Hadaway & Millam, 2007). This practice personally shocks me that patients are expected to learn, in only one or two visits, how to calculate IV drip factor rates and properly flush their PIV’s with saline prior and after medication administration. …show more content…
Nurses should also have patients demonstrate hand washing technique. Teaching patients about infusion therapy and how to avoid the risk of intravenous infection will help calm their fears and decrease their risks of obtaining an infection. Technology today can help by having patients either record a video of the steps on their smart phone or by writing the steps down. This can decrease patient’s anxiety and stress while increasing confidence. While this topic has been around for many years, both medical professionals and patients need to be educated and strict compliance needs to be followed in order to avoid intravenous and central line infections. Further research is needed in order to discover additional ways of decreasing intravenous and central line infections in the home
Catheter related bloodstream infections are not only responsible for prolonged hospital stays and increased hospital costs, it is also responsible for increased mortality of the hospitalized patients. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017), an estimate of 30,100 central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) occur in intensive care units and wards of U.S. acute care facilities each year. CLABSI is a serious hospital-acquired infection that occurs when bacteria enters the bloodstream through central venous catheters. CLABSI is preventable as long as health-care personnel practice aseptic techniques when working with the catheter. A blood culture swabbed from the tip of the catheter is needed to confirm the
National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs), established in 2002 by the Joint Commission, is to help accredited organizations address specific areas of concern in regard to patient safety ("Catheter-Associated," 2015). NPSG.07.06.01 Implement evidence-based practices to prevent indwelling catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) is a 2015 NPSG ("The Joint Commission," 2015). Our facility has 1.32 CAUTIs per 1000 device days (Carson, 2015). Decreasing CAUTIs can be achieved with a strict goal, addressing the financial implications, interdisciplinary collaboration, nursing leadership, a measurement tool, and discussing the future healthcare delivery methods.
Getting an infection from improper care during or after insertion of a central line is the last thing you want to get while in the hospital. This paper will discuss Kaiser Permanente’s policy on central venous catheter, also known as a central line, care and dressing change, and whether it follows the current evidence-based practice on preventing bloodstream infection in patients who have them inserted. I will explain about what a central line is, why evidence-based practice is important in the clinical setting, what Kaiser Permanente’s policy about central line care and dressing change is, if Kaiser is currently following evidence-based practice based on current articles about preventing central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), and what my role in using evidence-based practice is as a future registered nurse.
Article by Clancy (2009) explained central lines were a result of an estimated 250,000 blood stream infections and accounted for 30,000 to 62,000 patient deaths, then adding that each infection cost upwards of $36,000 and cumulatively add up to at least $9 billion in preventable costs annually. The article also explains how the mindset has changed from the cost of having a central line in place and expecting complications to lowering infection rates by an intentional interventional process/s. The article speaks of 5 basic steps to reduce CLABSI, hand washing, insertion techniques, skin cleansing, avoidance of certain sites and earlier removal of the CVC. Studies showed that these guidelines were only followed 62% of the time. The system was changed to ascertain that all the clinicians were in compliance. This prompted 5 interventions, education, a CVC insertion cart with all necessary equipment, physicians having to validate central line necessity, a concise checklist for bedside clinicians and the empower of nurses to stop procedures if guidelines were not followed. These low cost interventions from 11.3/1000 in catheter days in 1998 to zero in the fourth quarter of 2002.
Implementation of patient care practices for infection control is the role of the nursing staff. Nurses are responsible for maintaining hygiene, consistent with hospital policies and good nursing practice on the ward and monitoring aseptic techniques, including hand-washing and use of isolation. It is also in their scope of practice to promptly report to the attending physician any evidence of infection in patients under the nurse’s care and initiating patient isolation and ordering culture specimens from any patient showing signs of a communicable disease, when the physician is not immediately available. Limiting patient exposure to infections from visitors, hospital staff, other patients, or equipment used for diagnosis or treatment and maintaining
Keeping our hands clean is one of the most effcient and important steps we can do as humans to avoid getting sick or spreading germs to other people. Unwashed hands spread many diseases such as the flue, E. coli, and salmonella. Unfortunately, hand hygiene is still one of today’s most leading causes of infection in health care facilities. The risk of clinicians, patients, and visitors not complying with hand hygiene protocols creates a practice problem for nurses and their patient care. The cause of health care infections, also known as, health care-associated infections (HAIs) are increasing along with the rise of the inability to control or treat infections that are multi-drug resistant. Lack of proper hand hygiene is a major problem in clinical settings sourcing from critical care divisions where the most contaminations are prevalent. This paper will discuss how hand hygiene affects the nursing process and solutions of how to better prevent HAIs within the nursing scope of practice.
A two-year program called On the CUSP: Stop BSI was formulated in 2008 to prevent CLABSIs in hospitals nationwide and was organized as a state or region-level collaborative with centralized education, data collection, and program management functions (AHRQ, 2012). More than 1,000 hospitals and 1,800 hospital units, representing a total of 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, participated in the program (AHRQ, 2012). The program structure included three main components: (1) a model to translate evidence into practice at the bedside to prevent CLABSIs; (2) the CUSP to improve the safety culture; and (3) a system to measure and report infection data (Sawyer et al., 2010). Results of the program revealed success in reducing CLABSIs nationwide by 41% from a baseline of 1.915 infections per 1,000 line days to a rate of 1.133 infections (AHRQ, 2012). With the nationwide success of the On the CUSP: Stop BSI program (AHRQ, 2012), the state of Hawaii embarked on their own study to determine if a national ICU collaborative to reduce CLABSIs would succeed in the state (Lin et al., 2012). The study, which began in January 2009 and ended in December 2010, included the CUSP, a multifaceted intervention approach to CLABSI prevention, and infection rate monitoring (Lin et al., 2012). Data was collected and reported from 20 ICUs representing 16 hospitals across the state (Lin et al., 2012). The results revealed the overall mean 9statewide CLABSI rates decreased 61% from 1.5 infections per 1,000 catheter days at baseline to 0.6 at 16 to 18 months post-implementation of the project, reinforcing the evidence that the On the CUSP: Stop BSI program can succeed in other states and substantially reduce CLABSI rates in hospitals (Lin et al., 2012). The success of the initial Hawaii study was the catalyst to conduct a second study in the state. This cohort study continued the national On the CUSP: Stop BSI program interventions, extended
Central line associated blood stream infection, better known as CLABSI, are on a continual rise in critical patients. CLABSI are implemented to help improve vascular access in patients where venous access is minimal or reduced. They help to maintain intraveneous access to deliver medications to the body and in case of emergency. Central lines are not given to every patient admitted into the hospital, only those who are critical. The purpose of this paper is to provide reasoning and evidence behind my research strategy for this particular topic. In the critical populations, how does not using chlorhexidine containing dressing compare to using the dressings influence the central line associated blood stream infection rates over two years.
Central line bundle is a group of evidence-based practice strategy for patient with central catheters, when implemented together, produce better outcomes than implemented individually (Institute of health care improvement, 2010.). The main elements of central line bundle are hand hygiene, maximal barrier precaution upon insertion, Chlorhexidine skin antisepsis, optimal catheter selection, and daily review of line necessity with prompt removal of unnecessary lines Aseptic technique when using and caring for a central line catheter can decrease the chance of contamination in this critically ill infants. Staff education on adherence to aseptic technique and strict central line care guidelines are essential to decreasing bloodstream infections.
There are numerous evidence-based practice interventions that have become standard nursing practices across the country. Hand hygiene is a nursing practice intervention that is currently evidence (research) based. It is one of, if not the most, important interventions practiced in providing standardized care. The rationale behind that statement refers to the high percentage of hospital acquired infections; hand hygiene practices are measures used for maximum effectiveness in reducing the spread of these infections. Compared to the various health care professionals who come in contact with patients when providing care, nurses are by far the largest faction that implements the highest quantity of direct patient care in health care. That said, of all the asepsis precautions, techniques, and interventions that are currently in place, hand hygiene is the single most effective intervention used by nurse to prevent themselves from infection and the cross-infection to their patients. Although this evidence-based intervention is of utmost importance to implement at all times, research shows the difficulty in influencing nurses and other health care professionals to practice hand hygiene as often as recommended.
Prevention strategies of nosocomial infections related to poor hand hygiene include revision of: orientation, training processes, competency assessments, equipment cleaning, handwashing procedures, switching to the use of single-use IV flush vials, adding strategically located waterless hand rubs, defining supervisory expectations, conducting in-services, team trainings, and tracking systems (Infection control related sentinel events, 2003). Potential solutions to noncompliance include: consistent skin protectant application, reduced time required for handwashing, and antiseptic stations at the bedside and room entry points (Boyce, 1999). Hospital administrators must create an organizational atmosphere in which adherence to recommended HH practices are considered an integral part of providing high-quality care (Boyce, 1999). Improvement in infection control
The priority nursing diagnosis of hospital acquired infection is risk for any kind of infection. One of the main goals for each patient in the hospital is the patient will remain free of infection as evidence by absence of heat, pain, redness, or swelling in any area of the patient’s body during each nurse’s shift. (care plan book). Frequently hand washing is the best intervention for preventing infection. Hand washing reduces the risk of transmission of pathogens by inhibiting the growth of or killing the microorganisms. (cb)Proper sterile technique during urinary
Healthcare associated infections have an impact on patients - how? Can be prevented greatly with compliance to hand hygiene protocols (REF).
Research shows that Surgical site infections are preventable. According to the CDC, hand hygiene is the simplest approach to preventing the spread of infections and needs to be incorporated into the culture of the organization. Ensuring the use of infection control prevention is an important component of nursing care. Infection control prevention policies must be communicated undoubtedly to all employees. Staffers who do not comply must be re-educated to ensure that all are complying. Speaking up and pointing out that a nurse forgot to wash his or her hands, or notifying the surgical team that surgical instruments were not adequately cleaned may seem like small issues; but at the same time, not acknowledging a break in a sterile technique could mean the difference between life and death for a patient. One hospital that was struggling with high levels of infection related to surgical procedures, implemented a pre-procedure huddle as a team. This innovate way decreased the spread of infection and was a great way to improve the quality of care for patients. As mandated by the Joint commission, infection prevention personnel should provide multidisciplinary education on SSI prevention, to all team members, including
The use of intravenous therapy in the hospitals is now considered a routine therapy. In 2016, DeVries and Valentine stated that 70% to 80% of hospital patients have peripheral intravenous lines at some time during their stay. A peripheral intravenous (PIV) line is a small hollow tube (catheter) that is inserted into a vein and can be connected to special tubing. PIV line is commonly used to administer medications or fluids directly into the vein. The article “Intravenous Therapy: A Review of Complications and Economic Considerations of Peripheral Access,” states that the history of intravenous (IV) therapy dates back to the Middle Ages. Dr. Thomas Latta pioneered the use of IV saline infusion during the cholera epidemic and in the 20th century, two world wars established a role for IV therapy as routine medical practice (Dychter, Gold, Carson, & Haller, 2012).