Dear Colleague,

We know the importance of preventing healthcare-associated infections to improve patient outcomes; this has been one of the National Patient Safety Goals of the Joint Commission for years. As I put together the resources for this issue of NursingCenter's enewsletter, I came across some tips from our More Resources articles that I'd like to share with you.

1. Keep secondary piggyback medication sets connected to the primary continuous set. One secondary set can be used for multiple medications (use the backpriming method to flush the tubing and remember to check for medication incompatibilities.)
2. If implemented in combination with I.V. therapy best practice education, an antimicrobial I.V. connector can help decrease central line infection rates.
3. Get creative to help improve hand hygiene compliance. One unit developed a theme, “Get your clean on,” and even went on to create a song and music video! (You can view it on Nursing2012's iPad app.)
4. Serous or serosanguinous fluid may drain from a surgical wound drain postoperatively, but it shouldn't be foul-

   Needleless Connectors for IV Catheters Decreasing Central Line Infections and Needlestick Injury Rates: Combining Best Practice and Introducing a Luer-Activated Intravenous Therapy System and Antimicrobial Intravenous Connector INSPIRING CHANGE: Infusing Fun Into Quality And Safety Initiatives Infection Control: Recognizing Surgical Site Infections Preventing Catheter-Associated UTIs

   smelling; consider the possibility of infection if it is.
5. Electronic medical records (EMRs) can be helpful for tracking urinary catheter dwell times, especially if systems are in place to remind caregivers that the patient has a urinary catheter or even require documentation of urinary catheter necessity each shift. 

I hope these are helpful! Remember you can read more in the articles in More Resources. As always, these can be read free online.

Sincerely,

Lisa Bonsall, MSN, RN, CRNP
Clinical Editor

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