Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1539852
7 INFECTION CONTROL A CAUTI infection prevention strategy for the PICU that cut rates to zero By Mariah Taylor C hildren's Healthcare of Atlanta cut its catheter-associated urinary tract infections in the pediatric intensive care unit to zero — and maintained a rate of zero for more than 500 days — with a new strategy. Here is what to know: 1. National guidelines for prevention CAUTIs are largely based on the adult population, with limited pediatric-specific strategies, according to an Aug. 5 news release published on the American Association of Critical Care Nurses website. 2. During huddles on CAUTI cases, a task force at the hospital identified a pattern of liquid stool occurrences in patients with CAUTI. ey theorized that the stool was contaminating the catheter and contributing to the infection. e proposed fix: Remove diapers from PICU patients with indwelling urinary catheters. 3. is practice became known as the No Diaper Zone. Patients would be placed on highly absorbent pads, and nurses look for the presence of stool every two hours during vital sign checks and position changes. Staff also improved urine output monitoring by replacing traditional gravity-dependent urine collection bags with advanced systems that used gentle suction and three one- way valves to maintain continuous urine flow. e system also provided accurate hourly urine output data on a digital display. 4. e urine monitoring system was so effective it was implemented across the ICU, cardiac ICU and operating room. 5. Prior to the change, the baseline CAUTI rate in the PICU was 3.13 per 1,000 catheter days in 2020. Within the first post- intervention year, the CAUTI rate decreased by 22% and by 2023, the PICU achieved a rate of 0 per 1,000 catheter days. It has since maintained a streak of 527 event-free days since July 2022. n Carilion Clinic slashes HAIs with 13 hires By Paige Twenter A fter Carilion Clinic increased its infection prevention and control team from 11 to 24 full-time personnel, the Roanoke, Va.-based system saw a significant decrease in healthcare-associated infections. Between 2020 and 2023, as the eight-hospital system hired more infection prevention staff, catheter-associated urinary tract infections fell 57%, Clostridioides difficile infections dropped 52%, colon surgical site infections declined 26% and central line-associated bloodstream infections decreased 16%. Maimuna Jatta, RN, MSN, Carilion Clinic's director of infection prevention and control, said infection prevention leaders should spotlight the financial ROI when advocating for more staff. "IP leaders should collaborate with finance [executives] to analyze the cost per HAI event, project potential savings from reduction of HAIs and build a data-driven business case for additional IP staffing and infrastructure," Ms. Jatta said in a June 18 news release from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. n Leapfrog, APIC urge infection control investment By Paige Twenter I n a May 28 message to health system CEOs, two national healthcare safety organizations compared cutting infection control jobs to "dismantling the fire department during wildfire season." The Leapfrog Group and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology said reports of staffing and resource reductions in infection prevention "jeopardize the very foundation of safe care." "The current healthcare landscape — marked by high levels of preventable patient harm, emerging infectious threats, workforce shortages and increasing complexity of care — demands that patient safety top the priority list of every health system CEO and board," the organizations said in a joint statement. They called on hospital CEOs, board members and policymakers to treat infection prevention as a strategic imperative, not just a regulatory obligation or budget line item. The groups also pointed to Leapfrog's spring 2025 Hospital Safety Grade data, which showed a continued decline in healthcare-associated infections — a trend they attributed to ongoing investment in infection prevention efforts. n