Using Multiple Education Styles to Decrease the Rates of Bloodstream Related Infections on Pediatric Intensive Care Units

Abstract

Record ID: 98

Presenter Award: Excellence in Research Communication

Type: Poster Presentation (in-person)

Advisor: Fuad Alhorani

Abstract: Being up to date on education is an important skill that nurses must practice. If a nurse falls behind on their education, this can put patients at an increased risk for injury, infection, or even death. Specifically, the lack of proper teaching for the care of centrally located intravenous lines can increase a patients risk for possible fatal infections. A central line is an intravenous line that brings medication straight to a patient’s heart. If this line gets infected, this can drastically affect a patient’s overall health and their healing process. Our project’s purpose is to expand on the various learning styles that can be used for care of central lines with the goal of decreasing the rate of infections within the pediatric intensive care unit setting. A literature review was conducted on the number of central line associated bloodstream infections, otherwise called CLABSI’s, within a pediatric ICU setting and how increased education compliance can reduce those numbers. After literary evidence was gathered, an education session was created for pediatric ICU nurses, utilizing audio, visual, and tactile teaching methods to reach all audiences. The session included a poster presentation, as well as training mannequins for hands-on practice, with the intention of finding the best learning style to improve compliance with central line care standards. A pretest-posttest method was used to determine the understanding of the nurses participating in the session. Results are still pending, but the information gathered will help further the understanding of the goal of this project to learn if the use of multiple education styles increases compliance and helps decrease the rate of CLABSIs for pediatric patients with central lines.