Categories: Hemodialysis
August 21st, 2012 5:44 am ET -
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Priti R. Patel, MD, MPH
Author: Priti Patel, MD MPH
Medical Officer
CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion
While undergoing dialysis, patients have a lot on their minds. The last thing they need to worry about is getting a bloodstream infection in the process.
In the United States, more than 370,000 people receive long-term hemodialysis. Infection is a leading cause of illness and is the second leading cause of death in these patients. Bloodstream infections are one of the most serious types of infections dialysis patients can get. Since 1993, there has been a 40 percent increase in the rates of hospitalizations for bloodstream infection among hemodialysis patients, underscoring the importance of protecting this population.
In 2009, CDC established the CDC Dialysis Bloodstream Infection Prevention Collaborative, a partnership of freestanding and hospital-based outpatient dialysis facilities from across the country. These early adopters have seen great success in preventing bloodstream infections among their patients. Collaborative participants have demonstrated a 31 percent decrease in bloodstream infections and a 53 percent decrease in access-related bloodstream infections when CDC prevention guidelines are implemented.
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Categories: Hemodialysis
August 15th, 2012 12:53 pm ET -
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Staff volunteers demonstrate the use of scrub-the-hub protocol checklist
Guest Author – Gemma Downham, MPH
Infection Prevention Epidemiologist,
AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center
We have all heard about the heroic feat of
Captain “Sully” Sullenberger when he performed
an emergency landing of a passenger jet on the Hudson River in 2009. It was amazing that no
lives were lost during that potentially disastrous situation. Checklists, which have been used for decades in the airline industry, were said to have helped Captain Sully and his co-pilot run through tasks to attempt to restart the engines—and when all else failed, perform an emergency landing.
Dr. Atul Gawande, professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and bestselling author, has advocated in his book, The Checklist Manifesto, for the use of checklists in medicine to improve patient outcomes in surgery, prevent infections, etc., by reducing the potential for human error. So, when one of the nurses in our dialysis unit asked for a checklist for putting catheterized patients on and off the dialysis machines, I was both delighted (and overwhelmed.) Where to start?
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Categories: Antimicrobial Resistance, BSIs, CLABSI, Gram negatives, Healthcare-associated infections, Hemodialysis, MRSA, NHSN
March 2nd, 2011 4:07 pm ET -
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Arjun Srinivasan, MD
Author – Arjun Srinivasan, MD
CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion
As you know, bloodstream infections in patients with central lines can be deadly, killing as many as 1 in 4 patients who gets them. The newest edition of the CDC Vital Signs reports a major decrease in central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. This is an important triumph for patient safety and brings me a renewed sense of hope toward the elimination of HAIs. It also solidifies an expectation that infection prevention should be a priority in order to improve the safety of patients.
While progress is promising, about 60,000 bloodstream infections in patients with central lines still occurred outside of ICUs and in dialysis centers, according to our report. Much of this is preventable harm. We have to make every effort to ensure patients are protected in all healthcare facilities, all the time. So, how do we do that?
The good news is that everyone can contribute to preventing CLABSIs, no matter where the patient receives care.
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Categories: Antimicrobial Resistance, BSIs, CLABSI, Healthcare-associated infections, Hemodialysis, MRSA, NHSN
March 2nd, 2011 1:15 pm ET -
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Dr. Peter Pronovost on CDC’s Vital Signs Report: Why Success was Possible
Dr. Peter Pronovost, Johns Hopkins University, provides three video commentaries on CDC’s recent Vital Signs report on central line-associated bloodstream infections in hospitals and dialysis facilities. Dr. Pronovost’s commentary is provided below. Click on the video to watch
Transcript: Why was success possible?
Success was possible because many groups partnered and worked collaboratively.
On the national level, the CDC, AHRQ, CMS, and Health and Human Services all worked together.
At the state level, state hospital associations, state health departments and quality improvement organizations united forces.
And within hospitals, ICU clinicians, infection preventionists, and hospital managers worked together.
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Categories: Antimicrobial Resistance, BSIs, CLABSI, Healthcare-associated infections, Hemodialysis, MRSA, NHSN
March 2nd, 2011 1:08 pm ET -
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Dr. Peter Pronovost on CDC’s Vital Signs Report: How we can work together to leverage our success
Dr. Peter Pronovost, Johns Hopkins University, provides three video commentaries on CDC’s recent Vital Signs report on central line-associated bloodstream infections in hospitals and dialysis facilities. Dr. Pronovost’s commentary is provided below. Click on the video to watch.
Transcript: How we can work together to leverage our success
So what can we do:
“US government – work together to mature the science and develop safety programs – programs with clear evidence for best practices, programs with measures that clinicians believe are valid, programs that deliver results, programs that help clinicians believe they can truly make a difference.
States – coordinate efforts, create infrastructure to implement the science, provide technical support to hospitals seeking to measure and reduce infections, and ensure that all hospitals that have not eliminated CLABSI participate in the national program called On the CUSP: Stop BSI.
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