Florin Cristache

The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York

Abstract Title: Utilizing the Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program to Prevent Central Line Infections on Medical-Surgical Units

Biography: Florin Cristache, DNP, RN, CNE, NPD-BC is a Nursing Educational Specialist who holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Aspen University and a Master of Science in Nursing Education from Western Governors University, USA. Professional certifications include Certified Nurse Educator (National League for Nursing) and board certified in Nursing Professional Development (American Nurses Credentialing Center). As an active member of the Magnet Program, Patient Safety Committee, and the Nursing Continuing Education Provider Review Committee, his professional interests center on strengthening nursing excellence, evidence-based practice, and patient safety outcomes.

Research Interest: Utilizing the Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program to Prevent Central Line Infections on Medical-Surgical Units Patients receiving medication and life-saving treatments through a central line or central venous catheter (CVC) in the non-intensive care units are predisposed to central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) when the care is substandard. While significant research data exists on the intensive care units (ICU), fewer studies looked CLABSIs in the non-critical care units. The increased CLABSI rates in the medical-surgical and step-down units in a large Magnet-designated, tertiary care hospital elicited the developing and implementation of a quality improvement (QI) project to reduce CLABSI and ensure patient safety and positive outcomes. This QI project will use Lewin's Change Theory as a guiding framework to explore whether systematic nursing staff education, hands-on training, observation, and building a culture of safety will reduce CLABSI rates. The author will implement the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) to improve nurses` knowledge and clinical skills, modify clinical behavior and adherence to evidence-based CVC care bundles and build a robust patient safety culture. The intervention will take place in the medical-surgical and step-down units, with 76 beds, inpatient setting and will target the adult population with a central line. The goal for the two units is to reduce the Standardized Infection Ratio (SIR) of 9.32 and, respectively, 4.23 to below the national qualitative benchmark of SIR 1.0. The author will establish the impact of using CUSP to drive change and improve patient safety and outcomes by utilizing the hospital's reporting data before and after implementation. Keywords: central line-associated bloodstream infection, CUSP, hospital-acquired infection, high-acuity units