Interventions to decrease tube, line, and drain removals in intensive care units: the FRATER study

Impact of Collaborative Nursing Care Delivery on Patient Safety Events in an Emergency Intensive Care Unit: A Retrospective Observational Study

OBJECTIVES

Patient safety events (PSEs) have detrimental consequences for patients and healthcare staff, highlighting the importance of prevention. Although evidence shows that nurse staffing affects PSEs, the role of an appropriate nursing care delivery system remains unclear. The current study aimed to investigate whether nursing care delivery systems could prevent PSEs.

METHODS

This retrospective study was conducted in Japan. The study examined the collaborative 4:2 nursing care delivery system in which 2 nurses are assigned to care for 4 patients, collaborating to perform tasks, and provide care. The cohort receiving care from a collaborative 4:2 nursing care delivery system was labeled the postintervention, whereas the cohort receiving care from a conventional individualized system, in which one nurse provides care for 2 patients, was labeled the preintervention. The primary outcome was the occurrence of PSEs.

RESULTS

The preintervention and postintervention comprised 561 and 401 patients, respectively, with the latter consisting of a younger and more critically ill population. The number of PSEs per 1000 patient-days was not significantly different between the 2 groups (10.3 [95% confidence interval, 7.1-13.5] versus 6.0 [95% confidence interval, 3.2-8.9], P = 0.058). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the collaborative 4:2 nursing care delivery system was significantly associated with PSEs (adjusted odds ratio, 0.53; 95% confidence interval, 0.29-0.95; P = 0.037).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that in an emergency intensive care unit, a collaborative nursing care delivery system was associated with a decrease in PSEs.

Methodology for designing intrahospital transportation of patients with suspected infectious disease that limits infection spread risk in China

Aims

The transport of patients suspected of having COVID-19 requires careful consideration. Using paths selected at random and not accounting for person flow along the path are risk factors for infection spread. Intrahospital transportation (IHT) protocols and guidelines should be used to help reduce the risk of secondary virus transmission during transport. This study aimed to propose optimal IHT for patients with an infectious disease presenting in an out-patient area.

Design

The map of a West China Hospital was used. We also used field investigation findings and simulated person flow to establish pathway length and transportation time. We identified three optimum pathways and estimated safety boundary marks, including a patient transportation border (PTB) and safety transportation border (STB). Finally, IHT, PTB, and STP formed a virtual transport pipeline (VTP) and a traceable IHT management system, which can generate a virtual isolation space.

Results

The three pathways met efficiency, accessibility, and by-stander flow criteria. No facility characteristic modification was required.

Conclusions

Using virtual models to identify pathways through out-patient hospital areas may help reduce the risk of infection spread.

Unplanned Removal of Medical Devices in Critical Care Units in North West England Between 2011 and 2016

BACKGROUND

The unplanned removal of medical devices poses a risk of harm to critically ill patients.

OBJECTIVE

To determine rates, causes, and consequences of unplanned medical device removal, as well as factors mitigating harm to patients, in critical care units in the United Kingdom by reviewing patient safety incident reports.

METHODS

Incidents of unplanned medical device removal in critical care units in North West England between 2011 and 2016 were retrospectively reviewed and classified. The incidents were classified by type of device displaced, staff and patient factors, causes and consequences of removal, and staff actions following removal. Displacement rates were calculated per 1000 patient days per unit.

RESULTS

A total of 34 705 incident reports were reviewed, of which 1090 described unplanned device removal. The median rate of device removal was 0.7 (interquartile range, 0.4-2.2) per 1000 patient days per unit. Devices displaced most commonly included nasogastric tubes (317), central catheters (245), tracheostomy tubes (174), and endotracheal tubes (140). A total of 11 cardiac arrests were reported (8 associated with airway devices and 3 with central catheters). Factors contributing to displacement included initial placement (188), patient factors (563), and manual handling (238). Manual handling was cited in 49% of central catheter incidents and only 9% of nasogastric tube incidents. Patients' organic confusion was a factor in 16% of endotracheal tube and 80% of nasogastric tube removals.

CONCLUSIONS

Unplanned device removal may cause patient harm and is often preventable. The causes and consequences depend on the type of device removed.

Incidence of patient safety events and process-related human failures during intra-hospital transportation of patients: retrospective exploration from the institutional incident reporting system

BACKGROUND

Intra-hospital transportation (IHT) might compromise patient safety because of different care settings and higher demand on the human operation. Reports regarding the incidence of IHT-related patient safety events and human failures remain limited.

OBJECTIVE

To perform a retrospective analysis of IHT-related events, human failures and unsafe acts.

SETTING

A hospital-wide process for the IHT and database from the incident reporting system in a medical centre in Taiwan.

PARTICIPANTS

All eligible IHT-related patient safety events between January 2010 to December 2015 were included.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Incidence rate of IHT-related patient safety events, human failure modes, and types of unsafe acts.

RESULTS

There were 206 patient safety events in 2 009 013 IHT sessions (102.5 per 1 000 000 sessions). Most events (n=148, 71.8%) did not involve patient harm, and process events (n=146, 70.9%) were most common. Events at the location of arrival (n=101, 49.0%) were most frequent; this location accounted for 61.0% and 44.2% of events with patient harm and those without harm, respectively (p<0.001). Of the events with human failures (n=186), the most common related process step was the preparation of the transportation team (n=91, 48.9%). Contributing unsafe acts included perceptual errors (n=14, 7.5%), decision errors (n=56, 30.1%), skill-based errors (n=48, 25.8%), and non-compliance (n=68, 36.6%). Multivariate analysis showed that human failure found in the arrival and hand-off sub-process (OR 4.84, p<0.001) was associated with increased patient harm, whereas the presence of omission (OR 0.12, p<0.001) was associated with less patient harm.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows a need to reduce human failures to prevent patient harm during intra-hospital transportation. We suggest that the transportation team pay specific attention to the sub-process at the location of arrival and prevent errors other than omissions. Long-term monitoring of IHT-related events is also warranted.

Safety of intrahospital transport in ventilated critically ill patients: a multicenter cohort study*

OBJECTIVES

To describe intrahospital transport complications in critically ill patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation.

DESIGN

Prospective multicenter cohort study.

SETTING

Twelve French ICUs belonging to the OUTCOMEREA study group.

PATIENTS

Patients older than or equal to 18 years old admitted in the ICU and requiring invasive mechanical ventilation between April 2000 and November 2010 were included.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Six thousand two hundred forty-two patients on invasive mechanical ventilation were identified in the OUTCOMEREA database. The statistical analysis included a description of demographic and clinical characteristics of the cohort, identification of risk factors for intrahospital transport and construction of an intrahospital transport propensity score, and an exposed/unexposed study to compare complication of intrahospital transport (excluding transport to the operating room) after adjustment on the propensity score, length of stay, and confounding factors on the day before intrahospital transport. Three thousand and six intrahospital transports occurred in 1,782 patients (28.6%) (1-17 intrahospital transports/patient). Transported patients had higher admission Simplified Acute Physiology Score II values (median [interquartile range], 51 [39-65] vs 46 [33-62], p < 10) and longer ICU stay lengths (12 [6-23] vs 5 [3-11] d, p < 10). Post-intrahospital transport complications were recorded in 621 patients (37.4%). We matched 1,659 intrahospital transport patients to 3,344 nonintrahospital transport patients according to the intrahospital transport propensity score and previous ICU stay length. After adjustment, intrahospital transport patients were at higher risk for various complications (odds ratio = 1.9; 95% CI, 1.7-2.2; p < 10), including pneumothorax, atelectasis, ventilator-associated pneumonia, hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and hypernatremia. Intrahospital transport was associated with a longer ICU length of stay but had no significant impact on mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Intrahospital transport increases the risk of complications in ventilated critically ill patients. Continuous quality improvement programs should include specific procedures to minimize intrahospital transport-related risks.

Impact of contact isolation for multidrug-resistant organisms on the occurrence of medical errors and adverse events

Contact isolation of infected or colonised hospitalised patients is instrumental to interrupting multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) cross-transmission. Many studies suggest an increased rate of adverse events associated with isolation. We aimed to compare isolated to non-isolated patients in intensive care units (ICUs) for the occurrence of adverse events and medical errors.

METHODS

We used the large database of the Iatroref III study that included consecutive patients from three ICUs to compare the occurrence of pre-defined medical errors and adverse events among isolated vs. non-isolated patients. A subdistribution hazard regression model with careful adjustment on confounding factors was used to assess the effect of patient isolation on the occurrence of medical errors and adverse events.

RESULTS

Two centres of the Iatroref III study were eligible, an 18-bed and a 10-bed ICU (nurse-to-bed ratio 2.8 and 2.5, respectively), with a total of 1,221 patients. After exclusion of the neutropenic and graft transplant patients, a total of 170 isolated patients were compared to 980 non-isolated patients. Errors in insulin administration and anticoagulant prescription were more frequent in isolated patients. Adverse events such as hypo- or hyperglycaemia, thromboembolic events, haemorrhage, and MDRO ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) were also more frequent with isolation. After careful adjustment of confounders, errors in anticoagulant prescription [subdistribution hazard ratio (sHR) = 1.7, p = 0.04], hypoglycaemia (sHR = 1.5, p = 0.01), hyperglycaemia (sHR = 1.5, p = 0.004), and MDRO VAP (sHR = 2.1, p = 0.001) remain more frequent in isolated patients.

CONCLUSION

Contact isolation of ICU patients is associated with an increased rate of some medical errors and adverse events, including non-infectious ones.

Interventions to improve professional adherence to guidelines for prevention of device-related infections

BACKGROUND

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a major threat to patient safety, and are associated with mortality rates varying from 5% to 35%. Important risk factors associated with HAIs are the use of invasive medical devices (e.g. central lines, urinary catheters and mechanical ventilators), and poor staff adherence to infection prevention practices during insertion and care for the devices when in place. There are specific risk profiles for each device, but in general, the breakdown of aseptic technique during insertion and care for the device, as well as the duration of device use, are important factors for the development of these serious and costly infections.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effectiveness of different interventions, alone or in combination, which target healthcare professionals or healthcare organisations to improve professional adherence to infection control guidelines on device-related infection rates and measures of adherence.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the following electronic databases for primary studies up to June 2012: the Cochrane Effective Paractice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL. We searched reference lists and contacted authors of included studies. We also searched the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) for related reviews.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomised controlled trials (NRCTs), controlled before-after (CBA) studies and interrupted time series (ITS) studies that complied with the Cochrane EPOC Group methodological criteria, and that evaluated interventions to improve professional adherence to guidelines for the prevention of device-related infections.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of each included study using the Cochrane EPOC 'Risk of bias' tool. We contacted authors of original papers to obtain missing information.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 13 studies: one cluster randomised controlled trial (CRCT) and 12 ITS studies, involving 40 hospitals, 51 intensive care units (ICUs), 27 wards, and more than 3504 patients and 1406 healthcare professionals. Six of the included studies targeted adherence to guidelines to prevent central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs); another six studies targeted adherence to guidelines to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), and one study focused on interventions to improve urinary catheter practices. We judged all included studies to be at moderate or high risk of bias.The largest median effect on rates of VAP was found at nine months follow-up with a decrease of 7.36 (-10.82 to 3.14) cases per 1000 ventilator days (five studies and 15 sites). The one included cluster randomised controlled trial (CRCT) observed, improved urinary catheter practices five weeks after the intervention (absolute difference 12.2 percentage points), however, the statistical significance of this is unknown given a unit of analysis error. It is worth noting that N = 6 interventions that did result in significantly decreased infection rates involved more than one active intervention, which in some cases, was repeatedly administered over time, and further, that one intervention involving specialised oral care personnel showed the largest step change (-22.9 cases per 1000 ventilator days (standard error (SE) 4.0), and also the largest slope change (-6.45 cases per 1000 ventilator days (SE 1.42, P = 0.002)) among the included studies. We attempted to combine the results for studies targeting the same indwelling medical device (central line catheters or mechanical ventilators) and reporting the same outcomes (CLABSI and VAP rate) in two separate meta-analyses, but due to very high statistical heterogeneity among included studies (I(2) up to 97%), we did not retain these analyses. Six of the included studies reported post-intervention adherence scores ranging from 14% to 98%. The effect on rates of infection were mixed and the effect sizes were small, with the largest median effect for the change in level (interquartile range (IQR)) for the six CLABSI studies being observed at three months follow-up was a decrease of 0.6 (-2.74 to 0.28) cases per 1000 central line days (six studies and 36 sites). This change was not sustained over longer follow-up times.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

The low to very low quality of the evidence of studies included in this review provides insufficient evidence to determine with certainty which interventions are most effective in changing professional behaviour and in what contexts. However, interventions that may be worth further study are educational interventions involving more than one active element and that are repeatedly administered over time, and interventions employing specialised personnel, who are focused on an aspect of care that is supported by evidence e.g. dentists/dental auxiliaries performing oral care for VAP prevention.

Pediatric medical line safety: the prevalence and severity of medical line entanglements

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe the prevalence and severity of medical line entanglements among pediatric patients (N = 486). Most patients, with ages from birth to 6 years, had at least 1 medical line (n = 444, 91%), and 294 children (60%) had 2 to 11 medical lines. Observed entanglements included lines around body parts (n = 31), lines under the body (n = 71), and lines tangled with other lines (n = 50). One third of the children were at risk for adverse events due to entanglements, and 1 patient actually experienced real harm.

Overview of medical errors and adverse events

Safety is a global concept that encompasses efficiency, security of care, reactivity of caregivers, and satisfaction of patients and relatives. Patient safety has emerged as a major target for healthcare improvement. Quality assurance is a complex task, and patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are more likely than other hospitalized patients to experience medical errors, due to the complexity of their conditions, need for urgent interventions, and considerable workload fluctuation. Medication errors are the most common medical errors and can induce adverse events. Two approaches are available for evaluating and improving quality-of-care: the room-for-improvement model, in which problems are identified, plans are made to resolve them, and the results of the plans are measured; and the monitoring model, in which quality indicators are defined as relevant to potential problems and then monitored periodically. Indicators that reflect structures, processes, or outcomes have been developed by medical societies. Surveillance of these indicators is organized at the hospital or national level. Using a combination of methods improves the results. Errors are caused by combinations of human factors and system factors, and information must be obtained on how people make errors in the ICU environment. Preventive strategies are more likely to be effective if they rely on a system-based approach, in which organizational flaws are remedied, rather than a human-based approach of encouraging people not to make errors. The development of a safety culture in the ICU is crucial to effective prevention and should occur before the evaluation of safety programs, which are more likely to be effective when they involve bundles of measures.

The importance of risk reduction in critically ill patients

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Intensive care patients are per definition at risk for an unfavourable outcome while at the same time being exposed to the risks of a very complex and invasive process of care. This review addresses this extrinsic risk with respect to causative factors and strategies for risk reduction.

RECENT FINDINGS

A growing amount of evidence shows that the actual risk of an unfavourable outcome in critically ill patients depends on the quality of the process of care. Several domains have been identified in which changes in infrastructure, process, and culture can result in a substantial risk reduction and increased patient safety. Important examples refer to work environment and workload of intensive care professionals, safety climate, information flow, and continuity of care. Recent studies have demonstrated that routine procedures in intensive care are amenable to considerable improvement.

SUMMARY

This review discusses recent findings related to the reduction of risk in critically ill patients with respect to the process of intensive care medicine and the conditions under which that care is provided.