Page 339 - CHHA Binder 2.3.20

4/11/2019

Purpose of Central Venous Device Care

To provide essential catheter care:

 In order to minimize central line infection
 To report signs and symptoms of infection as early as
possible
 To maintain the patency of the central line

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Central Line-Associated Blood Stream Infections

 About 41,000 central line-associated bloodstream infections
(CLABSIs) occur in U.S. hospitals annually.

 The costs—in both patient morbidity and mortality and millions of
added dollars for care—have made reducing or eliminating CLABSIs
an increasingly important goal.

 Efforts to achieve the goal of reducing CLABSIs have historically
focused on the acute care setting, however, the number of patients
discharged from hospital to home with central lines in place lends a
new urgency to preventing these infections in the home care setting.

Copyright 2016 by United Hospital Fund

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