Executive Summary Checklist
In order to implement a program to eliminate central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) the following implementation plan will require these actionable steps. The following checklist was developed by Dr. Peter Pronovost, in 2001. This checklist reduces infections when inserting a central venous catheter (CVC) \cite{00025}.
- Commitment from hospital leadership to support a program to reduce and then eliminate CLABSIs.
- Implement evidence-based guidelines to prevent the occurrence of CLABSIs, including: insertion, maintenance, and standardized access procedures.
- Such as: Arrow International® PSI with Integral Hemostasis Valve/Side Port or Pressure Injectable Quad-Lumen Central Venous Catheterization Kit with Blue FlexTip®, ARROWg+ard Blue PLUS® Catheter and Sharps Safety Features
- Perform a “time-out”
- Wash their hands with soap.
- Clean the patient’s skin with chlorhexidine antiseptic.
- Put sterile drapes over the entire patient.
- Wear a sterile mask, hat, gown and gloves.
- Put a sterile dressing over the catheter site.
- Develop an education plan for attendings, residents and nurses to cover key curriculum pertaining to the prevention, insertion and maintenance of central lines.
- Encourage continuous process improvement through the implementation of quality process measures and metrics.
- Standardize a central-line kit based on the needs of your facility, and implement technology that will have a significant return on investment (ROI) such as:
- Arrow International® PSI Kit with Integral Hemostasis Valve/Side Port or Arrow International® Pressure Injectable Quad-Lumen Central Venous Catheterization Kit with Blue FlexTip®, ARROWg+ard Blue PLUS® Catheter and Sharps Safety Features.
- Efforts should be focused on eliminating all blood draws from central access catheters. This includes patient with longer-standing catheters (e.g. dialyses catheters).
- All CLABSIs should have a root cause analysis (RCA) completed by the unit where the infection occurred with multidisciplinary participation including nursing, physicians and infection prevention specialists. All learnings from the RCA should be implemented.
The Performance Gap
Each year in the United States there are more than 700,000 healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) resulting in 75,000 deaths and $28-$45 billion in extra health care costs \cite{Klevens_2007},\cite{00026}.
Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) are amongst the most commonly occurring HAIs and have a mortality rate of 12-25% (3). An estimated 41,000 patients in US hospitals acquire central line-associated infections each year \cite{21460264}. Heavy bacterial colonization at the insertion site, catheter placement in the arm or leg rather than the chest, catheterization longer than 3 days, and insertion with less stringent barrier precautions all significantly increase the risk of catheter-related infection \cite{Mermel_1991}. While intensive care unit (ICU) patients are at the highest risk for CLABSIs, central venous catheters are becoming increasingly utilized outside the ICU, exposing more patients to the risk. In fact, recent data suggest that the greatest numbers of patients with central lines are in hospital units outside the ICU \cite{Vonberg_2006}. While central line use is increasing outside the ICU, since 2008 CMS has implemented a policy of reduced reimbursement for reasonably preventable hospital-acquired conditions, including CLABSI. This policy change can represent a significant financial burden to the hospital because increased hospital costs due to CLABSI can be as much as $23,000 per case \cite{00026}.
CLABSI and other HAIs, however, are largely preventable. Interventions focusing on reducing CLABSIs in particular resulted in reductions ranging from 38 to 71%.3 Pronovost et al. for example, observed a 66% decrease in CLABSIs after implementing a multi-component intervention in the ICUs of 67 Michigan hospitals \cite{Pronovost_2006}. In a separate study conducted in 32 hospitals in Pennsylvania, CLABSIs decreased by 68%, following targeted interventions between April 2001 and March 2005 \cite{00027}. Other studies have shown similar reductions in CLABSI, saving lives and dramatically reducing costs \cite{Rosenthal_2012},\cite{Hong_2013},\cite{Gozu_2011}.
A variety of guidelines and recommendations have been identified to prevent CLABSIs including those published by The Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, \cite{21511081}. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)\cite{00028} and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) \cite{00029}.
Important shared components of these recommendations include: implementing a method to detect the true incidence of CLABSI, including information technology to collect and calculate catheter days; providing adequate infrastructure for the intervention including an adequately staffed infection prevention and control program and adequate laboratory support for timely processing of samples; implementing a catheter insertion checklist; monitoring the continued need for intravascular access on a daily basis; and measuring unit- specific incidence of CLABSI as part of performance evaluations.
It is estimated that the use of process change and technology to reduce CLABSI can save up to $2.7 billion per year while significantly improving quality and safety \cite{00026}. Closing the performance gap will require hospitals and healthcare systems to commit to action in the form of specific leadership, practice, and technology plans, examples of which are delineated below for utilization or reference. This is provided to assist hospitals in prioritizing their efforts at designing and implementing evidence-based bundles for CLABSI reduction.
Leadership Plan
- Hospital governance and senior administrative leadership must commit to becoming aware of major performance gaps in their own organization.
- Hospital governance, senior administrative leadership, and clinical/safety leadership must close their own performance gap by implementing a comprehensive approach.
- Healthcare leadership must reinforce their commitment by taking an active role in championing process improvement, giving their time, attention and focus, removing barriers, and providing necessary resources.
- Leadership must demonstrate their commitment and support by shaping a vision of the future, clearly defining goals, supporting staff as they work through improvement initiatives, measuring results, and communicating progress towards goals. Actions speak louder than words. As role models, leadership must ‘walk the walk’ as well as ‘talk the talk’ when it comes to supporting process improvement across an organization.
- There are many types of leaders within a healthcare organization and in order for process improvement to truly be successful, leadership commitment and action are required at all levels. The Board, the C-Suite, senior leadership, physicians, directors, managers, and unit leaders all have important roles and need to be engaged.
Change management is a critical element that must be included to sustain any improvements. Recognizing the needs and ideas of the people who are part of the process—and who are charged with implementing and sustaining a new solution—is critical in building the acceptance and accountability for change. A technical solution without acceptance of the proposed changes will not succeed. Building a strategy for acceptance and accountability of a change initiative greatly increase the opportunity for success and sustainability of improvements. “Facilitating Change,” the change management model The Joint Commission developed, contains four key elements to consider when working through a change initiative to address HAIs (Appendix A).
In addition to the change management model leaders should:
- Include fundamentals of change outlined in the National Quality Forum safe practices, including awareness, accountability, ability, and action.
- Meet with ICU team, infection control staff, quality and safety leaders, nurse educators, and physician champions.
- Understand barriers (walk the process)
- Use 4E grid to develop strategy to engage, educate, execute and evaluate
- Engage: stories, show baseline data
- Educate staff on evidence
- Execute practice change
- Evaluate feedback performance, view infections as defects
- Use surveillance data to drive improvement
- Monitor and provide feedback of compliance with best practice over time
Practice Plan
Use of current evidence-based guidelines and/or implementation aids regarding the prevention of CLABSIs:
Insertion
- Create a standardized central line insertion kit or line cart that contains all needed supplies (see Technology Plan).
- Ensure insertion checklist is in your electronic medical record.
- Wear sterile clothing – gowns, mask, gloves and hair covering.
- Cover patient with a sterile drape, except for a very small hole where line goes in.
- Maintain strict sterile technique when placing the line.
- Hand Hygiene - Perform hand hygiene procedures, either by washing hands with conventional soap and water or with alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHR). Hand hygiene should be performed before and after palpating catheter insertion sites as well as before and after inserting, replacing, accessing, repairing, or dressing an intravascular catheter \cite{Boyce_2002}. Palpation of the insertion site should not be performed after the application of antiseptic, unless aseptic technique is maintained \cite{12517020}.
- Ultrasound guidance should be used for all non-emergent central line placements.
- For directly inserted central lines, avoid veins in arm and leg, which are more likely to get infected than veins in chest.
- Before commencing the procedure, perform a “time-out.”
- Position patient appropriately
Prepare insertion site
- Prepare clean skin with a 0.5% chlorhexidine preparation with alcohol before central venous catheter and peripheral arterial catheter insertion and during dressing changes. If there is a contraindication to chlorhexidine, tincture of iodine, an iodophor, or 70% alcohol can be used as alternatives.
- No iodine ointment - Do not use topical antibiotic ointment or creams on insertion sites, except for dialysis catheters, because of their potential to promote fungal infections and antimicrobial resistance.
- When inserting near the lungs, ensure line aspirates blood to ensure proper catheter placement.
- Apply a sterile dressing to the site.
- Prepackaged or filled insertion cart, tray or box – cart/tray/box that contains all the necessary supplies.
- Insertion checklist with staff empowerment to stop non-emergent procedure - include a checklist to ensure adherence to proper practices;
- Full sterile barrier for providers and patients - use maximal sterile barrier precautions, including the use of a cap, mask, sterile gown, sterile gloves, and a sterile full body drape, for the insertion of CVCs, PICCs, or guidewire exchange. Use a sterile sleeve to protect pulmonary artery catheters during insertion.
- Insertion training for all providers.
Maintenance
- Perform daily assessments of need for line and remove when no longer needed.
- Daily discussion of line necessity, functionality and utilization including bedside and medical care team members.
- Discuss with the medical team continued necessity of line.
- Discuss with the medical team the function of the line and any problems.
- Discuss with the medical team the frequency of access and utilization of line. Consider bundling labs and line entries.
- Consider best practice is documentation that the discussion occurred in the medical record.
- Regular assessment of dressing to assure clean/dry/occlusive:
- Replace catheter site dressing if the dressing becomes damp, loosened, or visibly soiled.
- Replace dressings used on short-term central venous catheters sites according to CDC or institution’s protocol.
- Daily CHG bathing and linen changes - Follow manufacturer recommendations for usage
- Perform weekly rounds.
- Send monthly data to team and leadership.
- Celebrate success
- Perform in-depth case reviews in instances where infections do occur (identify the risk(s) that could’ve been avoided and modifications needed moving forward, if any).
- Utilize a systematic approach to review all hospital acquired CLABSIs
Standardized Access Procedure 17
- Refer to Hand Hygiene details in APSS #2A.
- Disinfect cap before all line entries by scrubbing with an appropriate antiseptic and accessing the port only with sterile devices.
- Scrub the Hub: Alcohol (15 second scrub + 15 second dry) or CHG (30 second scrub + 30 second dry).
- Standardized dressing, cap and tubing change procedures/timing:
- Scrub skin around site with CHG for 30 seconds (2 minute for femoral site), followed by complete drying. (Note: there may be institutional preference for CHG use for infant < 2 months of age).
- Change crystalloid tubing no more frequently than every 72 hours.
- Change tubing used to administer blood products every 24 hours or more frequently per institutional standard.
- Change tubing used for lipid and TPN infusions every 24 hours.
- Document date dressing/cap/tubing was changed or is due for change.
- Consider when hub of catheter or insertion site are exposed, wear a mask (all providers and assistants) shield patient’s face, ETT or trach with mask or drape.
In the Neonatal ICU:\cite{Miller_2010},\cite{Wheeler_2011},\cite{Milstone_2013},\cite{00030}
- A monthly report-out at team/quality committee and leadership meetings.
- Implement standardized central venous catheter (CVC) practices:
- Insertion checklist
- Daily assessment
- Electronic health record prompt to remove catheter based on feeding volume
- 24-hour catheter tubing change, experienced nurses only
- Enhanced nursing education and competency for CVC care
Education
- Nursing education – care and maintenance bundle
- Neonatal ICU nursing education – enhanced and competency for CVC care
- Central Line Simulation Program
- Develop education for attendings, residents, nurses
- Key Curriculum Concepts – reinforcement
- Hand hygiene
- Appropriate gowning and gloving
- Key Curriculum Concepts – new
- Standardized central line insertion best practice
- Ultrasound guided cannulation
- Updated insertion checklist
- Maintaining sterile technique – immediate feedback
- Central Line Navigator documentation
- General Medical Education
- MD rounding navigators (removal prompt)
- Resident infection prevention training
- Evidence-based practice adherence
- Remain current with new literature findings, e.g., “Guidelines for the Prevention of Intravascular Catheter-Related Infections” 2011 compendium by the CDC \cite{Miller_2010}.
- Patient education document (Figure 1).