On this page: Background | Educational Resources | Setting-Specific Resources | Patient Resources | Data & Reporting
Background
A central line is a tube that is placed in a large vein to give fluids, blood, or medications, or to do certain medical tests quickly. When germs enter the bloodstream, through a central line, it can cause a serious infection called a central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI).
Certain factors can place patients at higher risk for developing a CLABSI. Some of these factors are how long the central line has been in place, the type of central line, and the patient’s underlying medical conditions (Buetti et al, 2022).
Following recommended infection prevention practices before and after a central line is placed can help reduce the risk of CLABSI.
Educational Resources
VDH Infection Prevention and Control Assessments: The HAI/AR team is available to conduct a no-cost, non-regulatory, onsite visit to help a facility identify its infection prevention strengths and areas of opportunity.
- Checklist for Prevention of CLABSI
- CLABSI Basics – Symptoms, prevention, resources and tools
- Guidelines for the Prevention of Intravascular Catheter-Related Infections
- Prevention and Control of Infections in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Patients: Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections
- STRIVE Infection Control Training: CLABSI
- Targeted Assessment for Prevention – includes CLABSI assessment tool and CLABSI toolkit implementation guide
- Project Firstline - CDC’s Project Firstline provides innovative and accessible infection control education for all frontline healthcare workers.
Agency for Healthcare Quality Promotion
Virginia Healthcare-Associated Infections Advisory Group
- Virginia Infection Prevention and Control Training Alliance (VIPTA) - Check the Education & Training Resource Library for infection prevention and control materials
VCU Virginia Infection Prevention Training Center
- Virginia Infection Prevention Training Center (VIPTC) - resource created to meet the growing needs of healthcare and congregate care facilities in the areas of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)
World Health Organization
Setting-Specific Resources
Central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) resources specific to hospital settings:
View Hospitals homepage
Central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) resources specific to long-term care settings:
Nursing Homes/Skilled Nursing Facilities
Patient Resources
- CLABSI Basics (CDC)
- Tips for Being a Safe Patient (CDC)
Data & Reporting
Data & Impact
- CMS Care Compare – a searchable database of Medicare-certified facilities including hospitals and long-term acute care hospitals. Allows users to compare facilities on a variety of quality measures including CLABSI and other facility characteristics.
National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)
- Resources related to reporting CLABSI data to NHSN are available on the CDC website, including protocols, data collection forms, and analysis resources.
- Acute care hospital and long-term acute care hospital CLABSI data can be accessed on the VDH HAI/AR Program Data website.
Virginia Communicable Disease & Outbreak Reporting Requirements
State regulatory code aligns Virginia’s healthcare-associated infection reporting requirements with those required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Acute care hospitals and long-term acute care hospitals report CLABSI events to VDH via CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).