Objectives To evaluate the extent to which intensive care units participating in the initial Keystone ICU project sustained reductions in rates of catheter related bloodstream infections. Design Collaborative cohort study to implement and evaluate interventions to improve patients' safety. Setting Intensive care units predominantly in Michigan, USA. Intervention Conceptual model aimed at improving clinicians' use of five evidence based recommendations to reduce rates of catheter related bloodstream infections rates, with measurement and feedback of infection rates. During the sustainability period, intensive care unit teams were instructed to integrate this intervention into staff orientation, collect monthly data from hospital infection control staff, and report infection rates to appropriate stakeholders. Main outcome measures Quarterly rate of catheter related bloodstream infections per 1000 catheter days during the sustainability period (19-36 months after implementation of the intervention). Results Ninety (87%) of the original 103 intensive care units participated, reporting 1532 intensive care unit months of data and 300 310 catheter days during the sustainability period. The mean and median rates of catheter related bloodstream infection decreased from 7.7 and 2.7 (interquartile range 0.6-4.8) at baseline to 1.3 and 0 (0-2.4) at 16-18 months and to 1.1 and 0 (0.0-1.2) at 34-36 months post-implementation. Multilevel regression analysis showed that incidence rate ratios decreased from 0.68 (95% confidence interval 0.53 to 0.88) at 0-3 months to 0.38 (0.26 to 0.56) at 16-18 months and 0.34 (0.24-0.48) at 34-36 months post-implementation. During the sustainability period, the mean bloodstream infection rate did not significantly change from the initial 18 month post-implementation period (−1%, 95% confidence interval −9% to 7%). ConclusionsThe reduced rates of catheter related bloodstream infection achieved in the initial 18 month post-implementation period were sustained for an additional 18 months as participating intensive care units integrated the intervention into practice. Broad use of this intervention with achievement of similar results could substantially reduce the morbidity and costs associated with catheter related bloodstream infections.

A multifaceted intervention was associated with an increased use of evidence-based therapies and a substantial (up to 71%) and sustained (up to 2.5 years) decrease in VAP rates.

Focused attention on consistent adherence to the use of pediatrics-specific central line insertion and maintenance bundles produced sustained, continually decreasing PICU CLA-BSI rates. Additional use of either chlorhexidine for central line entry scrub or chlorhexidine-impregnated sponges did not produce any statistically significant additional reduction in PICU CLA-BSI rates.

The best method to monitor anticoagulation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is unknown. We conducted a prospective observational study in a tertiary pediatric intensive care unit. Anti-factor Xa (anti-FXa), antithrombin (AT), and factor VIII activity (FVIII) were measured in blood samples collected at 6, 12, and every 24h of ECMO. We enrolled 34 children who underwent 35 ECMO runs from April 2008–September 2010. ACT and heparin doses were higher, whereas anti-FXa levels were lower in neonates compared to infants/children. Median anti-FXa was 0.4 IU/mL, median AT was 60%, and median FVIII was 67%. Heparin infusion rate, anti-FXa, and AT increased, FVIII was stable, and ACT decreased with each day on ECMO. ACT had poor agreement with anti-FXa (42%). AT was inversely correlated with ACT (r=−0.33), even after adjusting for heparin dose, and positively correlated with anti-FXa (r=0.57). This study emphasizes the age differences as well as the variability over days of coagulation monitoring assays during ECMO. ACT is poorly correlated with anti-FXa and AT modifies the relationship between ACT and heparin dose, indicating that results should be interpreted with caution when managing anticoagulation on ECMO. Additional studies are warranted to determine optimal ECMO anticoagulation monitoring.

Background The Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ) is a simple, validated survey instrument for measuring sleep quality in intensive care patients. Although both patients and nurses can complete the RCSQ, interrater reliability and agreement have not been fully evaluated. Objectives To evaluate patient-nurse interrater reliability and agreement of the RCSQ in a medical intensive care unit. Methods The instrument included 5 RCSQ items plus a rating of nighttime noise, each scored by using a 100-mm visual analogue scale. The mean of the 5 RCSQ items comprised a total score. For 24 days, the night-shift nurses in the medical intensive care unit completed the RCSQ regarding their patients’ overnight sleep quality. Upon awakening, all conscious, nondelirious patients completed the RCSQ. Neither nurses nor patients knew the others’ ratings. Patient-nurse agreement was evaluated by using mean differences and Bland-Altman plots. Reliability was evaluated by using intraclass correlation coefficients. Results Thirty-three patients had a total of 92 paired patient-nurse assessments. For all RCSQ items, nurses’ scores were higher (indicating “better” sleep) than patients’ scores, with significantly higher ratings for sleep depth (mean [SD], 67 [21] vs 48 [35], P = .001), awakenings (68 [21] vs 60 [33], P = .03), and total score (68 [19] vs 57 [28], P = .01). The Bland-Altman plots also showed that nurses’ ratings were generally higher than patients’ ratings. Intraclass correlation coefficients of patient-nurse pairs ranged from 0.13 to 0.49 across the survey questions. Conclusions Patient-nurse interrater reliability on the RCSQ was “slight” to “moderate,” with nurses tending to overestimate patients’ perceived sleep quality.

Across 5-year follow-up, nearly one-third of previously employed ARDS survivors never returned to work. Delayed return to work was associated with patient-related and intensive care unit/hospital-related factors, substantial lost earnings and a marked rise in government-funded healthcare coverage. These important consequences emphasise the need to design and evaluate vocation-based interventions to assist ARDS survivors return to work.

Trauma center ultrasound practice is an independent predictor of DVT diagnosis for individual patients, controlling for patient-level risk factors. Elevated DVT rates at these centers are due to surveillance bias. In the absence of standardized surveillance, hospital DVT rate is an inappropriate quality of care measure after trauma.

OBJECTIVE: Pediatric oncology patients are frequently managed with central lines as outpatients, and these lines confer significant morbidity in this immune-compromised population. We aimed to investigate whether a multidisciplinary, central line maintenance care bundle reduces central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and bacteremias in ambulatory pediatric oncology patients. METHODS:We conducted an interrupted time-series study of a maintenance bundle concerning all areas of central line care. Each of 3 target groups (clinic staff, homecare agency nurses, and patient families) (1) received training on the bundle and its importance, (2) had their practice audited, and (3) were shown CLABSI rates through graphs, inservice training, and bulletin boards. CLABSI and bacteremia persontime incidence rates were collected for 23 months before and 24 months after beginning the intervention and were compared by using a Poisson regression model. RESULTS:The mean CLABSI rate decreased by 48% from 0.63 CLABSIs per 1000 central line days at baseline to 0.32 CLABSIs per 1000 central line days during the intervention period (P = .005). The mean bacteremia rate decreased by 54% from 1.27 bacteremias per 1000 central line days at baseline to 0.59 bacteremias per 1000 central line days during the intervention period (P , .001).CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a multidisciplinary, central line maintenance care bundle significantly reduced CLABSI and bacteremia person-time incidence rates in ambulatory pediatric oncology patients with central lines. Further research is needed to determine if maintenance care bundles reduce ambulatory CLABSIs and bacteremia in other adult and pediatric populations. Pediatrics 2013;132:e1403-e1412 AUTHORS: