Golisano Children's Hospital / Quality / Improving Care & Safety / Central Line Infections - CLABSI Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI) Why This Measure is Important Central lines are IVs that are placed into large veins of the body. They are often used to give medicines for long periods of time. Because central lines usually remain in place for weeks or months, they are at risk for infections. CLABSIs can make your child sicker, extend hospital stays, and require treatment with antibiotics. These are all important reasons why we strive to reduce the risk and rate of these infections. Proper care during insertion and ongoing care of the central line contributes significantly to the reduction of infections. What You Can Do Ask your doctor and nurses to explain why your child needs the catheter and how long your child will have it. Ask your child's doctors and nurses if they will be using all of the prevention methods available. Make sure that all the doctors and nurses caring for your child clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub before and after care. If the bandage comes off or becomes wet or dirty, tell a nurse or doctor immediately. Inform your nurse or doctor if the area around your catheter is sore or red. Do not let family and friends who visit touch the catheter or tubing. Make sure all visitors clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub before and after visiting your child. How We Measure The number of related infections per 1,000 central line days. Each day your child has a central line in place counts as one central line day. Our goal is to maintain infection rates lower than the national benchmark, ultimately driving towards zero. What We Are Doing to Improve Consistently use a set of best practices, called bundles, to minimize the risk of these infections. Monitor and report proper hand washing practices for all health care staff. Participate in Solutions for Patient Safety, a national improvement collaborative focused on eliminating all patient harm by sharing ideas, data, and best practices among United States children’s hospitals. Review all cases of CLABSI to identify opportunities for improvement.