This month we are highlighting the great infection prevention work at VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital. They haven’t had a reportable catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), central line-associated bloodstream infection, ventilator-associated event, MRSA bacteremia laboratory-identified event, or surgical site infection following a colon procedure in 2023 or 2024 so far! They are a small facility (only 37 beds), so even one healthcare-associated infection causes their standardized infection ratio to be high.
According to Director of Infection Prevention, Donna Tignor, and Director of Quality, Kate Bradshaw, they are most proud of their work on CAUTI reduction. VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital has the standard CAUTI prevention practices in place, such as a CAUTI prevention bundle and discussing necessity every day in interdisciplinary rounds. However, the initiative with the biggest impact was the facility’s effort to empower nurses to follow the nurse-driven protocol for urinary catheter removal. Despite having a nurse-driven protocol in place, nurses were still calling physicians for permission to remove the catheter. Infection prevention and nursing leaders rounded with staff to share their support for the nurse-driven protocol and empower nursing staff to follow the protocol. These leaders made a commitment to back up the nursing teams if the decision to remove a catheter under the protocol was called into question. Infection prevention at Tappahannock also performs in-person onboarding with new physicians so they can review the nurse-driven catheter removal protocol with them. This ensures that physicians are aware of the facility’s protocols and that this is a part of their culture. Great work VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital!
