[Project to reduce the central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection rate].

BACKGROUND

Central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) is an important indicator of care quality. The average CRBSI rate in our unit was 1.027% in 2009. Causes of infection included inadequate CRBSI prevention practices and outdated standard procedures.

PURPOSE

We designed a project to reduce the CRBSI rate below 0.5% in our intensive care unit.

RESOLUTION

Improvement plans included providing in-service education, establishing a central venous catheter (CVC) care checklist, and updating CRBSI clinical management standards.

RESULTS

The CRBSI rate fell to 1.43‰ after implementation. This was significantly below the reduction target of 0.5%.

CONCLUSIONS

This project effectively reduced CRBSI. We want to share this experience to help other hospitals and units improve critical care quality and reduce healthcare costs.