Diligence and Details

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit goes 400 days without a central line associated blood stream infection (CLABSI)

Le Bonheur’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) recently reached a milestone of 400 consecutive days without a central line associated blood stream infection (CLABSI).

CLABSIs are the result of contamination of the central line or peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) that leads to a patient infection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CLABSIs are preventable infections that increase morbidity and mortality each year while adding billions of dollars in costs to the U.S. health care system.

“Diligently following a sterile, bundled approach for central line insertion and maintaining close attention to detail for its care, including a daily assessment questioning the need for the central line, has become a culture in the ICU,” said Samir Shah MD, MBA, Chief of Pediatric Critical Care Division. “Weaving a culture of safety within the fabric of ICU management benefits our children while reducing their length of stay.”

The PICU follows guidelines suggested by Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS), which also tracks the occurrences of CLABSIs among children’s hospitals. The average CLABSI rate for SPS hospitals is 1.365 percent. SPS data has proven that if protocols are followed 100 percent of the time the risk for CLABSI drops to zero.

“The PICU team of nurses and physicians is committed to safe and effective patient care. We are all proud of this monumental feat of 400 days without a CLABSI,” said PICU Clinical Director Andrea Orman. “As a team, we have become more situationally aware of what it takes to prevent these infections and are committed to doing what is right for our patients.”