CLABSI question

[lbackschies]

I live in Texas and heard about the amazing job Michigan is doing with their CLABSI rates. I wanted to know if anyone working in acute care could share some insight on processes that keep you all being rockstars!

[AngelMama]

My unit hasn't has a CLABSI in years. We wear gloves when doing anything with the line, we scrub the hub, and we cap all of the ports and hubs when not in use. We use new caps any time we access the hub or port. We change dressings and caps weekly, or more often. We do daily clorhexadine baths for anyone with a line.

[lbackschies]

Thank you! We do all of that except for the chlorexadine bathing. Do you do this over their entire body?

[chare]

These are the caps we use Port Protectors - Disinfection Cap for IV devices | Curos®

We trialed these briefly, but the were removed shortly after implementation, as our CLABSI rate increased. Although the increase was associated with use of the Curos, I personally believe it was our technique, rather than the cap.

Agree with AngelMama: scrub the hub, limit access as much as possible, advocate for early line removal, good hand hygiene and always wear gloves when accessing the line.