CONGRATULATIONS TO 4 EAST ICU STAFF AND PHYSICIANS

By Linda S. Allen

The 4 East Intensive Care Unit staff, nurses and physicians have accomplished what many thought impossible. From November 2009 to November 2010, there were zero central venous line infections, ventilator-associated pneumonias or pneumothoraces in their area. They accomplished this through teamwork, frontline staff involvement and participation in the Florida Hospital Association Cusp Program, a statewide initiative to help reduce infections in the ICU.

To prevent CVL infections, the team evaluated all staff, assessing their skill and their knowledge of changing central line dressings, monitoring and documenting central line insertion by physicians, scrubbing the hub and changing click locks with each IV drug administration. The unit also took a proactive approach to decreasing surface flora by wiping all areas of contact with Super Sanicloth wipes. And they implemented the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) How-to Guide for preventing ventilator-assisted pneumonia and followed the Dobhoff Tube (DHT) Placement Protocol to prevent inadvertent placement of the tube into the lungs, which can cause pneumothoraces.