NUR 271
Fall 2013
The United States Centers for Disease Control estimates that each year one in twenty hospital patients will contract a Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI). When further examined, the number of infected patients is approximately 1.7 million per year resulting in nearly 99,000 deaths (CDC, 2011). Due to numbers like this, healthcare organizations, professional associations, and patient advocacy groups have all launched initiatives showing a universal response to this national healthcare priority. Chief among these initiatives was the collaboration between The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and the Disease Society of America. The SHEA-IDSA joint publication on HAI prevention builds a professional foundation for healthcare facilities in the Unites States to mitigate the risk of HAI infected patients. The prevention strategies begin by identifying the most common HAIs, their causes, and detailing the both the human and financial costs associated with HAIs. Using this information, SHEA and ISDA created prevention strategies to combat each HAI. This essay will follow the SHEA-IDSA template by detailing information on the most common Healthcare Associated Infection and provide detailing prevention strategies.
According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and the SHEA-IDSA report, the most common Healthcare Associated Infection are Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections or CLABSI. With nearly 50% of all ICU patients requiring a central line, the amount of recorded CLABSI infections is extremely high. The research on CLABSI indicates the most common pathogens are Staphylococcus Aureus, Enterococci, and Candida.
To better understand the nature of CLABSI incident and therefore employ prevention strategies one must understand the dynamic of a central line. The National Healthcare Safety Network defines a central line as “a
Citations: Institute for Healthcare Improvement, IHI. (8/2/2011). Implementing the IHI Central Line Bundle. Retrieved from http://www.ihi.org/knowledge/Pages/Changes/ImplementtheCentralLineBundle.aspx Institute for Healthcare Improvement United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Vital Signs: Central Line-Associated Blood Stream Infections United States, 2001, 2008, and 2009. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6008a4.htm