Catheter Line Protocols Curb Infections in Pediatric ICUs

Also, “every other month or every other quarter, [participants] have a Web call and talk about ideas. And then twice a year we get together as a group,” Dr. Dalton said. This open channel of communication has led to best practices in other areas. For example, “the last two bloodstream infections in our ICU have been in kids that had long-term percutaneous lines” as opposed to more common central lines. “So we just had a meeting with all our [percutaneous] line people.”

Phase II of the NACHRI program enrolled 25 additional hospitals, and phase III will start this fall.

Dr. Dalton declared that she has no conflicts of interest to disclose in relation to her use of the Cook Spectrum catheter, Biopatch, or chlorhexidine.

For more information about the NACHRI project, visit www.childrenshospitals.net