Central venous catheters, usually called CVCs, are extremely important for patients in any type of intensive care unit. It is because of their crucial role in the care of these patients that their troublesome risk of catheter-related bloodstream infections, sometimes referred to as CR-BSIs, has developed into such a problem. There are approximately 80,000 CR-BSIs diagnosed each year in the United States alone. These infections lead to nearly 28,000 patient deaths in intensive care units. Not only is this a dreadful loss of life; it is also incredibly expensive. Extra care and treatment for a patient suffering from a CR-BSI can cost an average of $45,000. In fact, these infections can cost as much as $2.3 billion for the United States each year (Pronovost et al., 2007). One reason CR-BSIs are having such a major effect in our intensive care units is that they affect patients of every age group. You can find patients suffering from a CR-BSI in absolutely any life stage, as they occur as early in life as the neonatal stage. Patients in the intensive care unit are extremely vulnerable to infection because of the weakened state of their immune systems while dealing with their current health problems.
Studies have shown that over half of catheter-related infections could be avoided. As they are slowly realizing that CR-BSIs have become a major issue in today’s health care system, health care providers are beginning to take steps to lower the risk of contracting them. The Center for Disease Control and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality have provided suggestions of ways to prevent CR-BSIs. One strongly recommended option is the use of maximal barrier precautions (Krein et al., 2005). These precautions, also known as maxima...
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Forsyth, K., Taylor, R., Kramer, J., Prior, S., Richie, L., Whitehead, J., Owen, C., & Melton, M.
Catheter Acquired Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs) has become to be classified as one among the leading infections which most individuals end up being susceptible to acquire while at the hospital. Healthcare-associated or acquired infections (HAIs) are a significant cause of illness, death, and more often than not, have resulted to cost the tax payers potentially high medical expenses in most health care settings. ("Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality," para. 1) Due to this, 1 out of every 20 patients will end up with CAUTI within the US hospitals and this has caused Agency for healthcare research and quality (AHRQ) to embark on nationwide plans to help in the eradication and control of CAUTI incidences. ("Agency
Cox-Foster, D. L., Conlan, S., Holmes, E. C., Palacios, G., Evans, J. D., Moran, N. A.,…
Zhang, Y. B., Harwood, J., Williams, A., Ylänne-McEwen, V., Wadleigh, P. M., & Thimm, C.
Ottenberg, A. L., Wu, J. T., Poland, G. A., Jacobson, R. M., Koenig , B. A., & Tilburt, J. C.
Central lines (CL) are used frequently in hospitals throughout the world. They are placed by trained health care providers, many times nurses, using sterile technique but nosocomial central line catheter associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) have been a dangerous issue. This is a problem that nurses need to pay particular attention to, and is a quality assurance issue, because CLABSI’s “are associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and health care costs” (The Joint Commission, 2012). There have been numerous studies conducted, with the objective to determine steps to take to decrease CLABSI infection rate, and research continues to be ongoing today. The problem is prevalent on many nursing units, with some patients at great risk than others, but some studies have shown if health care providers follow the current literature, or evidence based guidelines, CLABSIs can be prevented (The Joint Commission, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to summarize current findings related to this topic, and establish a quality assurance (QA) change plan nurses can implement for CL placement and maintenance, leading to decreased risk of nosocomial CLABSIs.
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