Adventist Health System has partnered with Johns Hopkins Quality and Safety Research Group to improve patient safety by eliminating central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLA-BSIs) in participating ICUs by September 15, 2008.
AHS is currently participating with the Johns Hopkins Quality and Safety Research Group in a randomized control trial funded by Robert Wood Johnson. AHS was selected to participate in this study because of significant findings of the Michigan Keystone project. (1) One finding from the Keystone study was the elimination of central line associated bloodstream infections using a set of common practices. The Keystone project determined that facilities with the greatest improvement in the least amount of time were faith based community hospitals. AHS was selected to participate in a focused study to eliminate central line associated bloodstream infections in adult ICU’s by September 15, 2008. In addition, the study seeks to identify the causal relationship between specific national nursing measures and BSI rates. 100% of AHS adult Intensive Care Units are participating. Engagement in this initiative is evident in all levels of the organization from the Board of Directors to frontline clinical staff.
“The ICU teams have really taken ownership of this project and we believe the final results will be beneficial to not only our patients, but our clinical team,” said Loran Hauck, Chief Medical Officer for Adventist Health System. “Our partnership with John Hopkins will provide us the opportunity to become a leader in the patient safety and quality field.”
“The important role of nursing in patient care outcomes has always been understood but hard to measure. The faith-based mission of Adventist Health System adds an important spiritual dimension to the care delivered to our patients. This study provides an opportunity to quantify and report the positive contributions of our nursing team” said Jan Jacob, Corporate Patient Safety Officer and Director of Corporate Clinical Resources.
1 1 Pronovost P, Needham D, Berenholtz S, et al. An Intervention to Decrease Catheter Related Bloodstream Infections in the ICU. NEngl J Med 2006;355:2725-32