Having a trained nurse or nurse team present during central line procedures or catheter insertion reduces the chance of infection for patients by 47%, according to new research from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control.
"[A]dding trained observers to assist with the placement of central lines has tremendous potential to reduce infections and prevent harm," Patricia Jackson, RN, BSN, president of the APIC said about the research in an Oct. 20 news release.
For the study, a team at UNC Health in Chapel Hill, N.C., trained a team of nurses to oversee a clinical checklist for central line infection-prevention techniques. The nurse team was tasked with providing 24/7 support for all central line procedures at the hospital.
Within the program's first three years, between 2019 and 2022, "the proportion of such infections among patients whose insertions were assisted by the nursing team decreased from 19% before program implementation to 10% in year three, for an overall reduction of 47%," according to the research, which was published Oct. 20 in the American Journal of Infection Control.