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MILESTONE ONE

Milestone One

Jeffrey M Styer

Southern New Hampshire University

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MILESTONE ONE

I found it difficult to choose a topic. When looking through the topics of interest, I was

drawn to the topic of Central lines and how they are extremely valuable product when providing

patient treatment but they also offer an increased risk for patient infection. According to the

Joint Commission (2019), Central venous catheters (CVCs) are the most frequent cause of health

care–associated bloodstream infections (p. 1). Central line-associated bloodstream infections

(CLABSIs) is a “primary bloodstream infection (that is, there is no apparent infection at another

site) that develops in a patient with a central line in place within the 48-hour period before onset

of the bloodstream infection that is not related to infection at another site” (Joint Commission,

2019, p.1). I choose this topic and wanted to research preventative ways by comparing the use

of alcohol swabs versus disinfecting caps. I started my new job in the operating room and they

recently just changed their policy by enforcing the use of disinfecting caps on all hubs to include

all centrals and peripheral IVs. During nursing school, we were trained using alcohol swabs so I

asked my new educator and she said there is overwhelming amounts evidence-based information

that supports the new changes to the use of disinfecting hubs. I am interested in learning more

about the two types of preventions.  

Nurses have been leading from the frontline of healthcare for decades. They do so by

providing the latest and greatest evidence-based practices and care to their patients. Doctors are

responsible for placing the central-lines but it is the nurse who is responsible for maintain them.

I plan to investigate just how much more effective the disinfecting caps are compared to

scrubbing the hub with alcohol swabs when maintaining a central-line in a patient. There has

been an increased understanding in that the majority of hospital-acquired infections are

preventable when nurses apply the evidence-based practices on a consistent basis over time (The
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Joint Commission, 2019). If all the information regarding CLABSIs supports the evidence-based

data about disinfecting caps being more effective in maintain an infection free central-line and a

better patient outcome than using alcohol swabs, then the change will and should become part of

everyday practice. After determining the outcome of my project; comparing disinfecting caps to

alcohol swabs and which is better for maintaining an infection free central-line, my research will

build onto the existing evidence-based nursing practices and support better patient safety

practices by decreasing the risks for infection.

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MILESTONE ONE

References

The Joint Commission. (2019, March). CLABSI Toolkit. Retrieved March 5, 2019, from

https://www.jointcommission.org/topics/clabsi_toolkit_introduction.aspx