Critical care nurses in seven hospitals in New York developed initiatives that reduced healthcare-associated infections as part of their participation in a 16-month nurse leadership training program delivered by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
The nurses, who went through the AACN Clinical Scene Investigator Academy program, were able to achieve the following:
- Reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections anywhere from 26 percent to 67 percent in three hospitals
- Reduce central line-associated bloodstream infections by 25 percent
- Reduce ventilator days up to 33 percent
- Reduce the need for tracheostomy breathing tubes by 91 percent
- Decrease average ICU length of stay by 19 percent
- Save an anticipated $4.5 million
The seven hospitals that benefitted from these programs are Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, and four hospitals in New York City: NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and NYU Langone Medical Center.
"The nurse-led initiatives developed by AACN CSI Academy participants are an outstanding example of how we can advance our work and practice environments to support improvements in patient care," said Thomas Smith, RN, DNP, senior vice president and CNO of Maimonides Medical Center, said. "Empowering clinical nurses at the bedside will drive innovation across the healthcare system."