NEPTUNE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Three presentations at the recent APIC annual conference described hospitals' successful experience with SwabCap® and SwabFlush®, in studies that reported improved patient safety and compliance with disinfection protocols.
A prestigious podium presentation described how St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, in Ann Arbor, Mich., observed enhanced patient safety and catheter maintenance by improving compliance with disinfection of IV needleless connectors.
Speaker Pat Posa, RN, BSN, MSA, FAAN, reported the various interventions, which included SwabCap and SwabFlush, that the hospital deployed as part of its continuing efforts to improve disinfection. Posa is the System Performance Improvement Leader for the St. Joseph Mercy Health System.
The hospital discovered that its nurses were not always following the proper “scrub the hub” protocol for manually disinfecting needleless connectors between IV line accesses. The connector’s design also made it difficult to thoroughly disinfect the hub even when nurses followed the protocol.
To solve the problem, St. Joseph sought a solution that would make compliance easy, efficient, and supportive of nurses’ work style. The hospital implemented SwabCap on its central IV lines (CVCs and PICCs) for this purpose and then added SwabFlush to further improve compliance with its connector disinfection protocol.
SwabCap is a disinfection cap designed to disinfect the top and threads of IV luer-lock needleless connectors with 70% isopropyl alcohol when attached to the connector hub. Left in place on the connector between line accesses, SwabCap also protects the connector from touch and airborne contamination.
SwabFlush is the only device that combines a saline flush syringe and disinfection cap. This combination improves compliance with disinfection protocols as the SwabCap is built into the syringe plunger, making it immediately and conveniently available to nurses after they flush an IV line.
A separate scientific poster presented at the APIC conference showed how Methodist Hospitals, in Gary, Ind., sought to improve patient safety with its peripheral IV lines (PIVs) as well as its central lines/PICCs.
Many institutions focus all their improvement efforts on central lines, even though PIVs also carry risk. (1.) At Methodist, they believed their nurses’ technique for disinfecting IV hubs was inconsistent. To address the problem, the hospital implemented SwabCap and saw significant improvement.
The poster’s authors were Methodist Hospitals clinical staff members Michelle DeVries, MPH, CIC, Senior Infection Control Officer; Patricia S. Mancos, BS, SM(ASCP), CIC, Infection Control Officer; and Mary J. Valentine, MSN, RN, CNS, OCN, Director Nursing Professional Development.
Another poster was an update of data that St. Mary’s Hospital for Children (Bayside, N.Y.) reported at APIC in 2012. At the 2012 conference, a poster described how St. Mary’s implemented four interventions to improve disinfection in its highly vulnerable pediatric patients. The interventions were:
*SwabCap
*Scrubbing patients’ IV lines with the antiseptic chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) after diaper changes
*A vest to prevent patients from disturbing their IV lines
*A foam patch designed to combat infection from skin flora
In May 2012, St. Mary’s discontinued use of the foam patch because staff believed the other three interventions might be sufficient. The 2013 poster reported data after this change. The poster was by Marianne Pavia, MT(ASCP), CLS, CIC, Director of Infection Control for St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children.
The APIC conference was held June 8-10 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
About Excelsior Medical Corp.
Excelsior Medical Corporation is a privately held medical device company with a primary focus on innovative catheter maintenance products that may reduce infection, medication errors and healthcare costs. The company manufactures and sells SwabCap and SwabFlush for the disinfection and protection of IV needleless connectors. Formed in 1989, Excelsior also manufactures and sells prefilled saline flush syringes, prefilled heparin flush and lock syringes, and syringe pump systems.
For more information, call 800-487-4276 or access www.excelsiormedical.com.
(1.) Zingg, W. & Pittet, D. (2009). Peripheral venous catheters: an under-evaluated problem. Int J Antimicrob Agents, 34( Suppl 4), S38-42.