HAIs

The confluence of recent economic factors and emerging clinical evidence now makes the use of central venous access devices (CVADs) far less desirable than in the past. Conversely, the same factors and facts greatly enhance the appeal of midline catheterscatheters measuring 3 to 8 inches in length, inserted in an upper arm vein and with tip location distal to the shoulder.(1,2) Evidence now demonstrates that certain Midlines offer patients the possibility of full length of stay infusion therapy, with reduced risk of bloodstream infection and avoidance of repetitive needlesticks for labs and restarts. Thus, in many cases, midlines are becoming the go-to device for safe, uninterrupted intravenous (IV) therapy.

The African Partnerships for Patient Safety (APPS) program, a World Health Organization (WHO) program, has paired 14 African hospitals each with a hospital in England, France or Switzerland.

Building on its major educational campaign Infection Prevention and You focusing on hospital infection prevention, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) introduced educational materials for long-term care, home care, and ambulatory care to help patients stay safe from infections. Introduced in concert with International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW), Oct. 14-20, 2012, the new Infection Prevention and You campaign materials help guide important conversations patients should hold with their healthcare team to prevent infection. IIPW provides a focal point to empower stakeholders, including patients and their families, in taking an active role to prevent infection. In addition to empowering patients and their families to speak up to prevent infection, it is the first consumer campaign of its kind designed to educate consumers about infection preventionistsdedicated experts who partner with the broader healthcare team and implement evidence-based methods to prevent healthcare-associated infections. Patients often feel intimidated in the healthcare setting and may not know what to say or what do to stay safe, says APIC Communications Committee chair Ann Marie Pettis, RN, BSN, CIC, who assisted in developing the campaign content. Due to the growing need to help patients in non-acute care settings understand the active role they can play to prevent infections, we customized the campaign material for long-term, home, and ambulatory care. We hope that these materials will be used to promote quality and patient safety initiatives. APICs Infection Prevention and You campaign material is available in a variety of formats, including posters, brochures, and fliers. Individual healthcare organizations can also customize the material by adding their logos and the contact information for their infection prevention department. Campaign material is available for free download at: www.apic.org/patientsafety      

Ben Taub General Hospital (BTGH) is a 575-bed public teaching hospital serving residents of Harris County, Texas. It is one of only two designated Level 1 Trauma Centers in Houston, Texas. The Trauma Surgical Intensive Care Unit (TSICU) is a 30-bed unit consisting of 24 open ward beds and six isolation rooms. Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are the most common of the healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in all hospitals across the United States costing $565 million annually. The majority of these CAUTIs (50 percent to 75 percent) are preventable.