What do central venous catheter-associated bloodstream infections have to do with bundles?

Abstract

Interest in the patient safety agenda continues to grow in North America. In the United States (US), the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has begun a campaign to make health care safer and more effective by encouraging hospitals to implement interventions they believe can avoid 100,000 deaths between January 2005 and July 2006 (1). The IHI, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1991, promotes the improvement of health by advancing the quality and value of health care (2). Three of the six areas for action chosen by the IHI for their '100,000 Lives Campaign' relate to prevention of nosocomial infections: central line infections, surgical site infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia. In Canada, a grassroots patient safety campaign modelled after the IHI's '100,000 Lives Campaign' has formed (3). This 'Safer Healthcare Now!' campaign focuses on the same six strategies chosen for the '100,000 Lives Campaign'. Across the country, hospitals are being invited to join the 'Safer Healthcare Now!' campaign.