Prevention of Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections Through Research Paper

Prevention of Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections Through Education - Research Paper Example CLABSIs have been estimated to occur in the United States hospitals in the range of 250, 000-500, 000 cases annually. This has resulted in high costs of care for patients who have been hospitalized. The need to cut down the costs associated with CLABSIs resulted in research aimed at developing a feasible solution. Research has yielded a mechanism that will see nurses educated on best practices that will them take an active role in the prevention of CLABSIs. This paper will focus on implementation of a plan to prevent central line associated blood stream infections by way of educating nurses. Problem Identification and Importance According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), every year an estimated 41,000 Central line associated blood stream infections occur in hospitals in U.S. The infections are typically serious and result in protracted stay in hospitals with increased costs. These infections also come with an increased risk of mortality (CDC, 2012). CLABSI (central line assoc iated blood stream infections) are typically prevented by proper management of the central line. CLABSIs are considered to be part of healthcare associated infections (HAIs) and have been reported to responsible for mortality ranging from 12-15%. In a study conducted by CDC, the findings revealed that approximately 43,000 CLABSIs occurred in hospitalized patients in ICU in U.S hospitals. There was a reduction in the number of CLABSIs by approximately 18000 in the year 2009. CLABSIs resulting from Staphyloccocus aureus represented the greatest decrease than even the gram negative rods like Candida spp and Enterococcus spp. In the same year, 23,000 CLABSIs occurred among inpatient individuals in the inpatient wards of U.S hospitals. In the year 2008, approximately 37, 000 CLABSIs occurred in outpatient clients receiving outpatient hemodialysis (CDC, 2011). These statistics serve to underscore the importance of CLABSIs in U.S hospitals. CLABSIs have resulted in an increased cost of med ical treatment. Hospitalized persons are paying huge amounts of money for their medical costs (Moe, 2012). It is this CLABSI associated costs that created a need for research activities that would see the CLABSIs kept to a minimum. The research activities have resulted in current evidence based guidelines that when executed, the incidence of CLABSIs will reduce. The mechanism requires that nurses be educated on prevention of CLABSIs. CLABSIs are not only responsible for high medical cost but are also responsible for morbidity and mortality in pediatric and neonatal intensive care units (Bizzarro, 2011). According to Bizzaro (2011), although implementation of evidence based catheter care bundles has reduced the infection rates, CLABSIs remain a fundamental problem in the pediatric and neonatal critical care units. CLABSIs are responsible for both pediatric, neonatal and adult morbidity and mortality in U.S citizens. Costs According to a study conducted by Shannon, et al (2006), the i nfections that are acquired while in hospital add considerable mortality and morbidity to patient care. A detailed economic analysis of the hospital expenses and revenues in 54 patient cases who had contracted central line associated blood stream infections over a period of three years in two intensive care units was conducted. The financial data was compared to data of other patients who were of