The Joint Commission will require hospitals to have a standardized protocol to disinfect catheter luer access valves, starting January 2010. In the face of that new dictum, what’s a hospital to do?
A panel pondering that question – and featuring three national vascular access experts — drew more than 100 nurses at the recent annual meeting of the Association for Vascular Access. Panelists were:
• Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RNC, CRNI, infusion therapy expert
• Gregory Schears, MD, Mayo Clinic
• Kelly Fugate, ND, RN, Joint Commission
The panel’s focus: Preventing Intraluminal Contamination from CRBSI’s: Complying with New Guidelines from the Joint Commission & SHEA Compendium.” The event was sponsored by Excelsior Medical, makers of the SwabCap disinfection cap for luer access valves, and moderated by Greg Dennis, of Dowling & Dennis Public Relations.
Dr. Schears led off by outlining the seriousness of catheter-related bloodstream infections, which are all too common despite years of effort aimed at eradicating these potential killers. He said it was a “logical extension” of infection control efforts to cover and disinfect valves with a cap.
Lynn Hadaway outlined a variety of studies on the issue, while Kelly Fugate explained why the Joint Commission has new National Patient Safety Goals that include the disinfection protocol requirement,..
For more on SwabCap, go to http://www.Excelsiormedical.com. Excelsior Medical is a client of Dowling & Dennis Public Relations.