Bloodstream Infection Paper

Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI) kills about 33,000 Americans each year, the total cost of treating CLABSI is one billion dollars annually. The cost to treat each patient affected is about 16000 dollars. With patients being discharged home with central lines, CLABSI can occur in the home setting too and not just hospitals. The case study presented in this paper discusses the statistics associated with CLABSI in discharged patients with central lines, and the efforts being made such as education and training in combatting the issue of bloodstream infection.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the issue of CLABSI, and how it is affecting our society today. It also highlights the mortality rate associated

“Pediatric oncology has made a major shift from inpatient to outpatient therapy, placing increased importance on the powerful partnership between caregivers and patients/families” (The Journal of the Association for Vascular Access, 2013). A recent study conducted by The Johns Hopkins Children Center indicated that pediatric cancer patients who were discharged home with central lines fared worst when it comes to CLABSI. They were readmitted with multiple blood bloodstream infections as compared to pediatric patients with central lines who were kept in the hospital. Even though the study showed an increase in the infection rate of children discharged home as against children that were kept at the hospital, not all the children discharged home had CLABSI. The study therefore indicates since not all the discharged patients had CLABSI, much can be done to help reduce the number of patients who are readmitted with CLABSI. The study followed 319 cancer patients who had central lines and were treated at Johns Hopkins. The children were followed in the years 2009-2010, and showed on average, it cost an additional 45,000 dollars, to treat these children when they were readmitted to the hospital. The ratio of infection between hospitalized patients and discharged patients was 19 CLABSI to 55 CLABSI. The study also showed children with implanted central lines were less likely to have the lines infected as compared with children whose lines were tunneled under the skin. It also showed children who had previous history of infection, recent bone marrow recipients, and children that went home with recently placed central lines were more likely to develop CLABSI (Hopkins Medicine,