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Pediatric hospital prevents central line infections for nearly a year
A Virginia pediatric hospital eliminated central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) among its most vulnerable patients for 300 days during 2021 and 2022. Their results are being presented at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology's (APIC's) Annual Conference in Orlando Florida, June 26-28.
When the infection prevention and quality departments at Inova L.J. Murphy Children's Hospital, part of the Inova Health System and located in Falls Church, Virginia, benchmarked their CLABSI rates against other pediatric hospitals, they saw opportunities for improvement. Recognizing the need for a multidisciplinary solution, infection preventionist Becky Lapian, MPH, CIC, and quality director Allison Barberio, MHSA, CPHQ, formed a team that included frontline nurses and techs, environmental services personnel, physicians, neonatologists, and OR and Emergency Department staff.
Through regular harm prevention meetings and infection prevention work groups, they homed in on opportunities to improve environmental cleaning, line access, and auditing practices. Meticulous focus on central line removal, proper line maintenance, and daily device rounding by the multi-disciplinary team, as well as better patient education on oral, personal, and hand hygiene by bedside nurses, contributed to a 80% drop in Standardized Infection Ratio (SIR).
Their collaboration resulted in over 300 days without a CLABSI with more than 10,000 days that patients had a central line in the hospital between 2021 and 2022.
"We realized that to truly drive down infections and sustain our progress, we had to look beyond basic practices and engage a diverse team in process improvement," said Lapian. "Our success is truly owned by every member of the team."
"A CLABSI can be catastrophic for any patient with a central line," said 2023 APIC President, Patricia Jackson. "The Inova team shows how a collaborative approach that engages multiple stakeholders can lead to improved patient outcomes."
More information: The poster, "One Team Approach: Celebration of 300 Days Without a CLABSI at a Children's Hospital," is being presented at the APIC Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.
