PICC Line Infection in the Oncology Unit - Essay Example

This study describes and explores PICC line infection in the oncology unit by the use of CUROs and the ways to prevent these infections. The study gives a better understanding of picc infection, the curo, and the methods to use to prevent infection; it also gives a better understanding of what the picc and the curo are. The concepts from the study give the nurses knowledge of how to take care of their patients by use of curos in oncology. Introduction PICCs are used to give medicines and chemotherapy treatment. The picc is also known as catheter, it is a long thin, flexible tube inserted into the large veins of the arm, and the catheter is then threaded through the vein until it nears the heart. Catheters have spaces in the middle called lumens, the lumens may be in doubles or triples, the spaces allow administering of medicines and treatment at the same. Each of catheters lumen has special bungs usually attached to drips and syringes; there are also clamps used to close the line catheters when not in use. The picc lines, apart from chemotherapy also helps in giving blood transfusions and intravenous fluids, the picc is also used for taking samples for testing. Incase nurses and doctors find it difficult to get needles into patients veins, then the picc is the ideal tool as once it is inserted one can carry it for even two weeks the oncology unit is medicine field focused on cancer, clinical oncology has three disciplines, the medical oncology, the radiation oncology, and surgical oncology. The PICC treatment of cancer falls in the surgical oncology which entails the staging, biopsy, and surgical resection of tumors. Problem Statement Without proper handling of the peripherally inserted central catheters then there is the tendency to infections. In oncology units this infections need to be handled properly; the CUROs helps in reduction of the infection rates of the PICCs. This paper focuses on how to decrease infection of peripherally inserted central caterers in oncology units by the use of CUROS. The study will help explain more of on how the CUROs help prevent PICC infection in the oncology unit Literature review CUROS help in the reduction of infections in oncology units during chemotherapy and administering of other medicine. The curos are inserted at the lumens of the PICCs. They are disinfecting caps, usually green that are used to help improve infection control protocols in hospitals. Usually, if the bangs are left uncovered and unprotected, there are high chances of the whole picc getting infected if the PICC gets infected the patient may also get infected. Curos protective caps enhance patients experience through ensuring that the needle-free devices are protected and clean. The PICC mainly uses drip strips which provide the nurses with an accessible dispenser hanged on patients bedside giving an easier access to reliable and consistent passive disinfection when accessing the IV. The curos has a single presentation port protector which has the same benefits in terms of reduction of catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) and central line-associated blood systems infection (CLABSI) for patient in acute and non-acute setting (Clem, 2010). The curos in terms of protection of oncology units have several advantages; these advantages include the fact that they have a visible and a vibrant infection control. The green color of the curo ports or bungs, help in improving visibility, that is, doctors and nurses see the exact spot in which certain drugs are to go. The vibrant color ensures there is high visibility which in turn complies with the National Health Service and other infection control protocols in hospitals. The CUROS also ensure there is consistent prevention of infection, oncology units are very important in the treatment of cancer patients and thus should always be free from infection. The curos in relation to this point help in ensuring there are consistent catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) protection, central line-associated bloodstream infection and other bacterial infections related to the picc. There is also the advantage of innovation from vygon, this mainly works in the curos ports impregnated with alcohol, and the main function of the alcohol in the port is disinfection. The port impregnated with alcohol protects and disinfects the luer activated access ports, this protection can last up to seven days, and the alcohol kills bacteria within a span of three minutes (Barrett). The methods to help prevent the infection of picc in oncology units are; first the nurses and the clinicians need to understand how to use the CURO and the requirements needed from them to enable them prevent the infections related to the three main infections. Nurses need to understand the everything about the curo; first they need to understand that the CUROs need to be handled specially and that they are mainly used on swappable luer valves. If not removed then the curo is effective for up to seven days, curos once plugged disinfect the valves on the lumen for three minutes just after application. The effectiveness of the CUROs depends on how carefully the handlers handle them; usage can be both at home and also in hospitals. The CUROs involve three main steps, peel, twist, and finally protect, nurses need to have sufficient on the two first steps. They should first peel the foil tab, and then push the curos into the lumen of the picc. This all fall on how a nurse or nurses understand about hygiene, sterilization, and infection prevention. Nurses need to understand hand hygiene and technical sterilization even before handling the CURO, even though, the main function of it relates to hygiene and sterilization. Training is a key component in the handling of picc and curo bungs The curos port also has other secondary advantages; these secondary advantages include reduced costs and reduced CRBSI. Inserting the CURO port into the picc then assures the nurses, doctors and the patients as well of treatments free from infection. Since a patient can stay with a picc for almost two weeks, and then the picc is the ideal tool to help protect the picc from infection. The infections likely to attack the patient using the picc in an oncology are the catheter-related bloodstream infection, the central line infection, and the central line-associated bloodstream infection. The CRBSI infection is that attributed to the picc by the quantitative culture of the catheter tip; these infections are also attributed to the differences in growth between the peripheral venipuncture and the catheter. The CLABSI is infection can also be associated with the catheter, and so does the central line infection (Clem, 2010). These three infections are the primary problems faced when handling the picc and should be noted carefully by the nurses and the doctors. The nurses need enough knowledge of the infections and training to help them in combating the problem. The nurses and doctors need to have enough knowledge regarding sterilization methods to help in preventing certain infections. Methods section The required research method for the proposal is the qualitative method; this method involves symbolic interactionism which will help reveal the reality of how much the nurses understand about picc in the oncology unit. Information from the chosen nursing sample will represent the completely nursing community To collect data about the picc and the curos, and then the nurses need to be interviewed on what they know about the curos, the picc in prevention of infection. The interviews will help give information about how much knowledge they have on the use of curos in prevention of picc infection and what needs to be done to improve the knowledge. This will also help determine if the medical practitioners in helping combating cancer need training. The nurses will need to fill questionnaires on how to handle the picc and the CURO ports, this will determine the level at which the nurses follow instruction on the handling of curos and the level of taking care or their patients. Data analysis The best method for analyzing the data collected is the constant comparative method and also graph methods.In a comparative method the data collected will be simultaneously be collected and analyzed, this will allow generate creativity which will be necessary or the generation of concepts. Data from interviews will be transcribed and organized from analysis; graphs will help weigh the level of knowledge and how much more is needed to achieve the required level of prevention. Discussion and findings Strategies employed for the study of the topic will help ensure that the collected data interpretation is in a way that it accurately reflects the problem. In order to avoid biases, the collection and analysis of data require the researcher to raise awareness of own preconceptions. Research findings will help improve the awareness of Curo and PICC use. Conclusion The collected data will help in several ways, the use of the information from the data improves the whole concept of patient care in that, with increased knowledge about picc, and curo ports the infection incidences will reduce Reference Reducing Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections through the Addition of Disinfecting Port Protector Caps to the Central Line Bundle - Curos. (2014, October 17). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://www.curos.com/reducing-central-line-associated-bloodstream-infections-addition-disinfecting-port-protector-caps-central-line-bundle/#top Barrett, T. (n.d.). Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC): Experience in a community hospital (CH). American Journal of Infection Control, 108-108. Catheter-related infection and colonization associated with percutaneous inserted central catheters (PICC). (n.d.). American Journal of Infection Control, 110-110. Clem, D. (2010). Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) and neonatal sepsis. Curos Port Protector - Green is clean. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://disinfectingcap.co.uk/ Read More