Increasing transparency across our organization
Transparency in health care is about openly sharing goals, results and opportunities to improve.
Most Shands at UF hospital inpatient units now showcase a Quality and Patient Safety Board. They are located in high-traffic areas visible to patients and visitors and are updated quarterly to reflect the unit’s quality performance.
Results reflect the team’s efforts in reducing the following quality measures:
- Pressure ulcers
- Catheter-associated urinary tract infections
- Patient falls
- Central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs)
- Ventilator-associated pneumonia
We’re making every effort to not only prevent these hospital-acquired conditions but to eradicate them completely. We’re “chasing zero.”
We’re already making significant improvement in several areas thanks to the hard work and collaboration between our College of Medicine physicians and Shands nursing and unit staff.
Here is an update (see chart below) with Shands at UF hospital cumulative results for what we call “CLABSIs,” or infections associated with central line catheters that provide the medical team with necessary access to a patient’s vascular system. It is placed in a patient’s large “central” vein and can be used to deliver IV fluids, medications and liquid nutrition and to obtain blood samples. Central lines may increase a patient’s risk for developing local and systemic infections.
Central line-associated bloodstream infections may result in extended illness, hospitalizations, increased need for medications and higher health care costs.
CLABSI infections have steadily decreased since the first quarter of 2006. Over the past year, Shands at UF has participated in the Florida Hospital Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program initiative as well as other hospital-wide improvement efforts, which are continuing to decrease the number of CLABSIs. Thank you for your attention and support!
