Chlorhexidine Gluconate Bathing Program to Reduce Health Care-Associated Infections in Both Critically Ill and Non-Critically Ill Patients.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Critical care nurses take care of patients with complicated, comorbid, and compromised conditions. These patients are at risk for health care-associated infections, which affect patients' lives and health care systems in various ways. OBJECTIVE: To gauge the impact of routinely bathing patients with 4% chlorhexidine gluconate solution on the incidence of health care-associated infections in a medical-surgical intensive care unit and a postoperative telemetry unit; to outline the framework for a hospital-wide presurgical chlorhexidine gluconate bathing program and share the results. METHODS: A standard bathing protocol using a 4% chlorhexidine gluconate solution was developed. The protocol included time studies, training, monitoring, and surveillance of health care-associated infections. RESULTS: Consistent patient bathing with 4% chlorhexidine gluconate was associated with a 52% reduction in health care-associated infections in a medical-surgical intensive care unit. The same program in a postoperative telemetry unit yielded a 45% reduction in health care-associated infections. CONCLUSION: A comprehensive daily 4% chlorhexidine gluconate bathing program can be implemented with standardized protocols and detailed instructions and can significantly reduce the incidence of health care-associated infections in intensive care unit and non-intensive care unit hospital settings.