title: [Project to reduce the central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection rate].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) is an important indicator of care quality. The average CRBSI rate in our unit was 1.027% in 2009. Causes of infection included inadequate CRBSI prevention practices and outdated standard procedures.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We designed a project to reduce the CRBSI rate below 0.5% in our intensive care unit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Improvement plans included providing in-service education, establishing a central venous catheter (CVC) care checklist, and updating CRBSI clinical management standards.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CRBSI rate fell to 1.43‰ after implementation. This was significantly below the reduction target of 0.5%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This project effectively reduced CRBSI. We want to share this experience to help other hospitals and units improve critical care quality and reduce healthcare costs.
authors.affiliation: Medical Intensive Care Unit, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Chin-Yi
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Ya-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Min-Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D016470:Bacteremia / Q000517:prevention & control*; D055499:Catheter-Related Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D062905:Central Venous Catheters / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units
keywords: catheter related bloodstream infection; central venous catheter; intensive care unit