Elliot Health System’s Intensive Care Unit is celebrating a significant milestone this month! The ICU reached five years without a central line-associated blood stream infection (CLABSI). CLABSI is associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and costs. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), as many as 28,000 patients die from CLABSI annually in ICU’s in the United States.
The ICU was able to achieve this by collaborating with several departments including IV Therapy, Infection Prevention, and many others. Staff made revisions to policies based on literature reviews, staff education, and adopted new, evidence-based products like Curos Caps and Prevantics Wipes that protect the lines from infection and decrease the length of time required for proper line maintenance.
“This achievement is a testament to the vigor and engagement of all team members and their sustained vigilance to patient safety during every single patient encounter. The impact of this collective improvement work reaches beyond the ICU across many other areas of the hospital,” Hannah Sharp, MS, RN, CNL, CPPS, Patient Safety Officer at Elliot Hospital, explains.
Sharp says the NICU is celebrating four years without a CLABSI and is on track to reach this five-year milestone in January 2022!
