Your Time or Your Money:the Cost of Seconds

56% of nurses surveyed believe it is unnecessary to disinfect catheter hubs prior to connection.

Study at Johns Hopkins reveals decontamination effectiveness of 70% isopropyl alcohol scrub for 5 seconds versus 15 seconds. (Lockman, Heitmiller, Ascenzi, and Berkowitz, 2011, Scrub the hub! Catheter needleless port decontamination).

A study published by Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, March 2011, which compared cultures from catheter hubs disinfected with 3, 10, and 15 second scrubs of 70% isopropyl alcohol yielded the following results:

Scrub in seconds Average cfu/ml3 118

10 2815 6

Some statistics: From April 2010 through March 2011, CLABSI rates at Kaiser Vacaville are similar to state

average (26 of ~350 reporting facilities had lower than state average rates). 200,000 HAIs result in 12,000 deaths annually in California; 30% of deaths –

3,680 – from BSIs, primarily from central catheters. (www.cdhp.ca.gov/programs/hai).

Medicare no longer reimburses hospitalization costs from HAIs…care required for CLABSIs is estimated to be at $34,508 to $56,000 per incident. (Simmons, Bryson, and Porter, 2011, “Scrub the Hub” cleaning duration and reduction in bacterial load on central venous catheters).

Our efforts in partnership with other health care team members have greatly reduced CLABSIs…can we do more?

15 seconds of your time conserves money for staff compensation and resources for patients.

Student Perspective by Ricci Hayes, SN/ NVCMay 2012 @ Kaiser Vacaville

Your Time or Your Money:the Cost of Seconds

More importantly, your time saves lives.

Student Perspective by Ricci Hayes, SN/ NVCMay 2012 @ Kaiser Vacaville