How best practice vascular access can help you foster a culture of safety and infection prevention

This is the second in a series of four articles aimed at bringing vascular access (VA) complications to light.

Vascular access complications contribute to numerous issues for patients and hospitals. 

Did you know that catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) are an important clinical problem resulting in significant morbidity, mortality and excess economic cost?¹

With up to 90% of hospital in-patients requiring peripheral intravenous (IV) therapy, this puts many of them at potential risk of CRBSI.² 

In addition to CRBSIs, suboptimal vascular access care can also contribute to numerous other complications, including phlebitis, occlusion, dislodgement, thrombosis, infiltration, and extravasation, among others.² 

Some complications can cause a patient pain and discomfort and could potentially extend their length of stay in the hospital.² Others are more severe and can be lethal.³

By championing best practice vascular access care in your hospital you can help foster a culture of prevention and patient safety. 

Encouraging your hospital to follow evidence-based best practice allows you to:

• Raise awareness of infectious complications
• Standardise monitoring policies and procedures
• Monitor CRBSIs and IV complications overall
• Ensure procedural consistency
• Improve the quality of patient care and patient safety, and ultimately the reputation of your hospital

Stay tuned for another article in this series coming up in next month’s issue of BD IV News.

To learn more about the benefits of best practice vascular access for infection prevention, click below:

#vascularaccess #bloodstreaminfections #catheterrelatedbloodstreaminfections #centralvenous #centralvenouscatheterisation #CLABSI. #CR-BSI #crbsi #firstinsertionsuccess #HAIprevention #infectionprevention #patientsafety #SEPSIS #VA #VAM #vascularaccessawareness #vascularaccesscomplications #vascularaccessmanagement #vascularcare

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