Three attend AHRQ program focused on preventing infections

Posted on: 6/13/18

Derek Biggs and Ann-Marie McCormick

On June 8, Derek Biggs, Integris Baptist Medical Center, Ann-Marie McCormick, Integris Southwest Medical Center/Veteran’s Administration Medical Center, and Patrice Greenawalt, OHA, were invited to participate in a one-day meeting for the AHRQ Safety Program for ICUs:  Preventing central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI.) The invitation to participate was extended to Oklahoma hospital leaders and others from across the nation who previously participated in an AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) CLABSI/CAUTI prevention cohort.

The Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program (CUSP) is a proven method for preventing health care-associated infections (HAIs) and other patient harms. CUSP, which was developed at Johns Hopkins with AHRQ support, combines improvements in safety culture, teamwork, and communication with a checklist of evidence-based practices for preventing the target HAI or patient harm. AHRQ implements CUSP in nationwide projects addressing various HAIs.

CUSP has been associated with a 66 percent reduction in catheter related bloodstreams in 103 ICUs, a 71 percent reduction in ventilator associated pneumonia in 112 ICUs, and 81 percent reduction in CLABSI from a nurse driven protocol in 45 ICUs from 33 hospitals in 12 states, a 40 percent reduction in CLABSI among more than 1,000 hospitals nationwide, a $1.1 million annual savings for an average U.S. hospital, a 33 percent reduction in surgical site infections, and significant improvement in safety climate, teamwork climate and nursing turnover.

Meeting participants provided input into Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program (CUSP) educational materials by reviewing and providing recommendations to help ICUs across the country to prevent CLABSI and CAUTI using evidence-based practices.

The meeting participants:

• discussed enhancement of materials to integrate CUSP adaptive elements with technical interventions intended to prevent CLABSI and CAUTI;
• provided input on the enhancement of “how to” information, such as empowering nurses to remove urinary catheters through utilization of successful communication patterns, and creating a safe culture, while exemplifying respect among nurses and physicians; and
• identified overarching adaptive elements that facilitate implementation of CUSP.

The new CUSP educational materials are projected to be released in the next year, following integration of the recommendations made by participants, and will be publicly available. (Patrice Greenawalt)