News
ICViewExpert PerspectivesMedical World NewsVideosWebinars
Conference CoverageConference ListingAPIC Chapters
Infection Control TodaySupplements And Featured Publications
CME/CEEditorial Advisory BoardJob BoardPartnersSponsoredWhitepapers
Subscribe
Educator of the Year Official Rules2024 Educator of the Year Winner2023 Educator of the Year WinnerEducator of the Year
Advanced TechnologyAdvanced TechnologyAdvanced Technology
Bug of the Month
COVID-19
Environmental ServicesEnvironmental Services
HAIs
Hand Hygiene
IC Trends
Long-Term CareLong-Term Care
Operating Room
Personal Protective EquipmentPersonal Protective Equipment
Policy
PreventionPreventionPreventionPrevention
Sterile ProcessingSterile Processing
Surface Disinfection
Vascular Access
Spotlight -
  • IC Trends
  • Bug of the Month
  • Featured Articles
  • Featured Columns
Advanced TechnologyAdvanced TechnologyAdvanced Technology
Bug of the Month
COVID-19
Environmental ServicesEnvironmental Services
HAIs
Hand Hygiene
IC Trends
Long-Term CareLong-Term Care
Operating Room
Personal Protective EquipmentPersonal Protective Equipment
Policy
PreventionPreventionPreventionPrevention
Sterile ProcessingSterile Processing
Surface Disinfection
Vascular Access
    • News
    • Subscribe
Advertisement

Study Seeks Strategies to Prevent Catheter-Related Infections

November 9, 2010
Article

A Medical College of Georgia study seeks to learn how to optimize communications to avoid potentially deadly catheter-related bloodstream infections.

By Sharron Walls

A Medical College of Georgia study seeks to learn how to optimize communications to avoid potentially deadly catheter-related bloodstream infections.

Nearly half of patients in intensive care units need catheters to deliver medicine or replenish fluids. In the United States, catheter-related bloodstream infections cause as many as 28,000 deaths and $9 billion in healthcare costs each year.

Such infections are completely preventable if correct practices are followed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those practices include hand hygiene, full barrier precautions, patient skin antisepsis, appropriate catheter site selection and daily review of whether the line is still necessary.

"Evidence-based practices have been developed and promoted, but while some hospitals have succeeded in implementing these standards, many have not," says Dr. Pavani Rangachari, assistant professor of health informatics in the School of Allied Health Sciences and principal investigator on the study. "We do not have a systematic understanding of how hospital organizations learn to prevent infections. By understanding these dynamics and making them available to practitioners and policy makers, this study may enable a faster spread of hospital infection prevention efforts."

The multidisciplinary two-year, $100,000 study is sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Rangachari and her colleagues will collect weekly data from MCGs medical and pediatric intensive care units beginning in January, analyzing communication logs to determine how catheter-related bloodstream infections prevention practices are communicated to physicians and nurses and which are most effective.

For instance, some hospital personnel communicate tacitly such as medical faculty telling residents the importance of using full barrier precautions (airborne and contact precautions, plus eye protection and standard precautions). Others communicate explicitly, such as hospital administrators disseminating monthly infection rates during staff meetings.

"We want to understand which structures of communication and types of knowledge exchanges are associated with the successful implementation of evidence-based practices," Rangachari says. "In short, how does safety learning occur at the unit level?"

The problem is that some practitioners think they are following proper procedures when they are not. The better they understand how to communicate, Rangachari theorizes, the safer they can keep their patients.

"Theres a big incentive now for hospitals to follow these procedures," she adds. Beginning in 2011, hospitals will be required to publicly report hospital-acquired infections and will be penalized for them.

Rangachari hopes the research will lead to a larger, multi-site infection prevention trial. "This is clinical, public health and patient safety research all rolled into one, with a broad applicability making it relevant to policy makers, health care practitioners and the public."

Collaborating on the study with Rangachari are Drs. Chitra Mani, professor of pediatrics, Peter Rissing, chief of infectious diseases, David Snyder, chief quality officer at MCG Health and Peggy Wagner, professor of family medicine.

Recent Videos
Anna Castillo-Gutierrez, CRCST, CSPDT, CHL, CIS, CFER,  and Maya Luera, CRCST, CIS, CER, CHL
Lucy Witt, MD
Chase Elms, BS, CRCST
Garrett Hollembeak, CRCST, CIS, CHL, CER, CIC
Hannah Schroeder, BSHA, CRCST, CIS, CHL, CER,
Anthony Bondon CRCST, CHL, BSM, AAS, SME, LSSYB
Deannard Esnard, CRCST, CIS, CER, CHL, CFER, CQUIA
Kevin Bush, Jr, DHSc, EdD, MSHA, MA, MS, FACHE
Vatsala Rangachar Srinivasa, MPH
Sarah Vinson, MBA, CRCST
Related Content

CDC: HICPAC Silenced  (Adobe Stock)

The Disbanding of HICPAC: A Dangerous Silencing in the Fight Against Health Care-Associated Infections

Heather Stoltzfus, MPH, RN, CIC
May 8th 2025
Article

The abrupt disbanding of HICPAC silences decades of infection control expertise, leaving health care workers without unified guidance as deadly threats to patient safety rise.


Endoscopy at the hospital. Doctor holding endoscope before gastroscopy  (Adobe Stock by romaset)

Endoscopes and Lumened Instruments: New Studies Highlight Persistent Contamination Risks

Alexander Sundermann, DrPH, CIC, FAPIC
May 7th 2025
Article

Two new studies reveal troubling contamination in both new endoscopes and cleaned lumened surgical instruments, challenging the reliability of current reprocessing practices and manufacturer guidelines.


Policy: FY26 Discretionary Budget  (AI image created by author)

The Chopping Block: Administration’s FY26 Discretionary Budget Proposal Targets Public Health Lifelines

Brenna Doran, PhD, MA, ACC, CIC
May 5th 2025
Article

The proposed elimination of ASPR’s Hospital Preparedness Program in the 2026 federal budget could dismantle essential emergency readiness infrastructure and jeopardize national health care safety.


National Foundation for Infectious Diseases  (Image credit: NFID)

NFID 2025 Report Reveals Alarming Gaps in Hand Hygiene Practices Among US Adults

John Parkinson
May 5th 2025
Article

Clean Hospitals Corner With Alexandra Peters, PhD

Happy Hand Hygiene Day! Rethinking Glove Use for Safer, Cleaner, and More Ethical Health Care

Alexandra Peters, PhD
May 5th 2025
Article

Despite their protective role, gloves are often misused in health care settings—undermining hand hygiene, risking patient safety, and worsening environmental impact. Alexandra Peters, PhD, points out that this misuse deserves urgent attention, especially today, World Hand Hygiene Day.


IP LifeLine From Infection Control Today (AI image created by author)

IP LifeLine: Finding Your Footing: Deepening Resilience in the Daily Grind of Life

Brenna Doran, PhD, MA, ACC, CIC
May 1st 2025
Article

Infection preventionists face relentless demands, but true resilience begins when they replace self-judgment with grace, processing emotions with acceptance and compassion—not perfection.

Related Content

CDC: HICPAC Silenced  (Adobe Stock)

The Disbanding of HICPAC: A Dangerous Silencing in the Fight Against Health Care-Associated Infections

Heather Stoltzfus, MPH, RN, CIC
May 8th 2025
Article

The abrupt disbanding of HICPAC silences decades of infection control expertise, leaving health care workers without unified guidance as deadly threats to patient safety rise.


Endoscopy at the hospital. Doctor holding endoscope before gastroscopy  (Adobe Stock by romaset)

Endoscopes and Lumened Instruments: New Studies Highlight Persistent Contamination Risks

Alexander Sundermann, DrPH, CIC, FAPIC
May 7th 2025
Article

Two new studies reveal troubling contamination in both new endoscopes and cleaned lumened surgical instruments, challenging the reliability of current reprocessing practices and manufacturer guidelines.


Policy: FY26 Discretionary Budget  (AI image created by author)

The Chopping Block: Administration’s FY26 Discretionary Budget Proposal Targets Public Health Lifelines

Brenna Doran, PhD, MA, ACC, CIC
May 5th 2025
Article

The proposed elimination of ASPR’s Hospital Preparedness Program in the 2026 federal budget could dismantle essential emergency readiness infrastructure and jeopardize national health care safety.


National Foundation for Infectious Diseases  (Image credit: NFID)

NFID 2025 Report Reveals Alarming Gaps in Hand Hygiene Practices Among US Adults

John Parkinson
May 5th 2025
Article

Clean Hospitals Corner With Alexandra Peters, PhD

Happy Hand Hygiene Day! Rethinking Glove Use for Safer, Cleaner, and More Ethical Health Care

Alexandra Peters, PhD
May 5th 2025
Article

Despite their protective role, gloves are often misused in health care settings—undermining hand hygiene, risking patient safety, and worsening environmental impact. Alexandra Peters, PhD, points out that this misuse deserves urgent attention, especially today, World Hand Hygiene Day.


IP LifeLine From Infection Control Today (AI image created by author)

IP LifeLine: Finding Your Footing: Deepening Resilience in the Daily Grind of Life

Brenna Doran, PhD, MA, ACC, CIC
May 1st 2025
Article

Infection preventionists face relentless demands, but true resilience begins when they replace self-judgment with grace, processing emotions with acceptance and compassion—not perfection.

Advertise
About Us
Editorial Board
Contact Us
Job Board
Terms and Conditions
Privacy
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Contact Info

2 Commerce Drive
Cranbury, NJ 08512

609-716-7777

© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.
Home
About Us
News