A Survey of PICU Clinician Practices and Perceptions regarding Respiratory Cultures in the Evaluation of Ventilator-Associated Infections in the BrighT STAR Collaborative.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize respiratory culture practices for mechanically ventilated patients, and to identify drivers of culture use and potential barriers to changing practices across PICUs. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey conducted May 2021-January 2022. SETTING: Sixteen academic pediatric hospitals across the United States participating in the BrighT STAR Collaborative. SUBJECTS: Pediatric critical care medicine physicians, advanced practice providers, respiratory therapists, and nurses. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We summarized the proportion of positive responses for each question within a hospital and calculated the median proportion and IQR across hospitals. We correlated responses with culture rates and compared responses by role. Sixteen invited institutions participated (100%). Five hundred sixty-eight of 1,301 (44%) e-mailed individuals completed the survey (median hospital response rate 60%). Saline lavage was common, but no PICUs had a standardized approach. There was the highest variability in perceived likelihood (median, IQR) to obtain cultures for isolated fever (49%, 38-61%), isolated laboratory changes (49%, 38-57%), fever and laboratory changes without respiratory symptoms (68%, 54-79%), isolated change in secretion characteristics (67%, 54-78%), and isolated increased secretions (55%, 40-65%). Respiratory cultures were likely to be obtained as a "pan culture" (75%, 70-86%). There was a significant correlation between higher culture rates and likelihood to obtain cultures for isolated fever, persistent fever, isolated hypotension, fever, and laboratory changes without respiratory symptoms, and "pan cultures." Respondents across hospitals would find clinical decision support (CDS) helpful (79%) and thought that CDS would help align ICU and/or consulting teams (82%). Anticipated barriers to change included reluctance to change (70%), opinion of consultants (64%), and concern for missing a diagnosis of ventilator-associated infections (62%). CONCLUSIONS: Respiratory culture collection and ordering practices were inconsistent, revealing opportunities for diagnostic stewardship. CDS would be generally well received; however, anticipated conceptual and psychologic barriers to change must be considered.

Ultrasound in Cardiopulmonary Arrest and Resuscitation: Constructing Comprehensive Implementation Frameworks in High-Risk Settings.

OBJECTIVES: Information obtained from point-of-care ultrasound during cardiopulmonary arrest and resuscitation (POCUS-CA) can be used to identify underlying pathophysiology and provide life-sustaining interventions. However, integration of POCUS-CA into resuscitation care is inconsistent. We used expert consensus building methodology to help identify discrete barriers to clinical integration. We subsequently applied implementation science frameworks to generate generalizable strategies to overcome these barriers. MEASURES AND MAIN RESULTS: Two multidisciplinary expert working groups used KJ Reverse-Merlin consensus building method to identify and characterize barriers contributing to failed POCUS-CA utilization in a hypothetical future state. Identified barriers were organized into affinity groups. The Center for Implementation Research (CFIR) framework and Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (CFIR-ERIC) tool were used to identify strategies to guide POCUS-US implementation. RESULTS: Sixteen multidisciplinary resuscitation content experts participated in the working groups and identified individual barriers, consolidated into 19 unique affinity groups that mapped 12 separate CFIR constructs, representing all 5 CFIR domains. The CFIR-ERIC tool identified the following strategies as most impactful to address barriers described in the affinity groups: identify and prepare champions, conduct local needs assessment, conduct local consensus discussions, and conduct educational meetings. CONCLUSIONS: KJ Reverse-Merlin consensus building identified multiple barriers to implementing POCUS-CA. Implementation science methodologies identified and prioritized strategies to overcome barriers and guide POCUS-CA implementation across diverse clinical settings.

Implementation Science Research in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.

OBJECTIVES: Delay or failure to consistently adopt evidence-based or consensus-based best practices into routine clinical care is common, including for patients in the PICU. PICU patients can fail to receive potentially beneficial diagnostic or therapeutic interventions, worsening the burden of illness and injury during critical illness. Implementation science (IS) has emerged to systematically address this problem, but its use of in the PICU has been limited to date. We therefore present a conceptual and methodologic overview of IS for the pediatric intensivist. DESIGN: The members of Excellence in Pediatric Implementation Science (ECLIPSE; part of the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators Network) represent multi-institutional expertise in the use of IS in the PICU. This narrative review reflects the collective knowledge and perspective of the ECLIPSE group about why IS can benefit PICU patients, how to distinguish IS from quality improvement (QI), and how to evaluate an IS article. RESULTS: IS requires a shift in one's thinking, away from questions and outcomes that define traditional clinical or translational research, including QI. Instead, in the IS rather than the QI literature, the terminology, definitions, and language differs by specifically focusing on relative importance of generalizable knowledge, as well as aspects of study design, scale, and timeframe over which the investigations occur. CONCLUSIONS: Research in pediatric critical care practice must acknowledge the limitations and potential for patient harm that may result from a failure to implement evidence-based or professionals' consensus-based practices. IS represents an innovative, pragmatic, and increasingly popular approach that our field must readily embrace in order to improve our ability to care for critically ill children.

Consensus Recommendations for Blood Culture Use in Critically Ill Children Using a Modified Delphi Approach.

OBJECTIVES: Blood cultures are fundamental in evaluating for sepsis, but excessive cultures can lead to false-positive results and unnecessary antibiotics. Our objective was to create consensus recommendations focusing on when to safely avoid blood cultures in PICU patients. DESIGN: A panel of 29 multidisciplinary experts engaged in a two-part modified Delphi process. Round 1 consisted of a literature summary and an electronic survey sent to invited participants. In the survey, participants rated a series of recommendations about when to avoid blood cultures on five-point Likert scale. Consensus was achieved for the recommendation(s) if 75% of respondents chose a score of 4 or 5, and these were included in the final recommendations. Any recommendations that did not meet these a priori criteria for consensus were discussed during the in-person expert panel review (Round 2). Round 2 was facilitated by an independent expert in consensus methodology. After a review of the survey results, comments from round 1, and group discussion, the panelists voted on these recommendations in real-time. SETTING: Experts' institutions; in-person discussion in Baltimore, MD. SUBJECTS: Experts in pediatric critical care, infectious diseases, nephrology, oncology, and laboratory medicine. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 27 original recommendations, 18 met criteria for achieving consensus in Round 1; some were modified for clarity or condensed from multiple into single recommendations during Round 2. The remaining nine recommendations were discussed and modified until consensus was achieved during Round 2, which had 26 real-time voting participants. The final document contains 19 recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Using a modified Delphi process, we created consensus recommendations on when to avoid blood cultures and prevent overuse in the PICU. These recommendations are a critical step in disseminating diagnostic stewardship on a wider scale in critically ill children.

Practices, Perceptions, and Attitudes in the Evaluation of Critically Ill Children for Bacteremia: A National Survey.

OBJECTIVES: Sending blood cultures in children at low risk of bacteremia can contribute to a cascade of unnecessary antibiotic exposure, adverse effects, and increased costs. We aimed to describe practice variation, clinician beliefs, and attitudes about blood culture testing in critically ill children. DESIGN: Cross-sectional electronic survey. SETTING: Fifteen PICUs enrolled in the Blood Culture Improvement Guidelines and Diagnostic Stewardship for Antibiotic Reduction in Critically Ill Children collaborative, an investigation of blood culture use in critically ill children in the United States. SUBJECTS: PICU clinicians (bedside nurses, resident physicians, fellow physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and attending physicians). INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: Survey items explored typical blood culture practices, attitudes and beliefs about cultures, and potential barriers to changing culture use in a PICU setting. Fifteen of 15 sites participated, with 347 total responses, 15-45 responses per site, and an overall median response rate of 57%. We summarized median proportions and interquartile ranges of respondents who reported certain practices or beliefs: 86% (73-91%) report that cultures are ordered reflexively; 71% (61-77%) do not examine patients before ordering cultures; 90% (86-94%) obtain cultures for any new fever in PICU patients; 33% (19-61%) do not obtain peripheral cultures when an indwelling catheter is in place; and 64% (36-81%) sample multiple (vs single) lumens of central venous catheters for new fever. When asked about barriers to reducing unnecessary cultures, 80% (73-90%) noted fear of missing sepsis. Certain practices (culture source and indication) varied by clinician type. Obtaining surveillance cultures and routinely culturing all possible sources (each lumen of indwelling catheters and peripheral specimens) are positively correlated with baseline blood culture rates. CONCLUSIONS: There is variation in blood culture practices in the PICU. Fear and reflexive habits are common drivers of cultures. These practices may contribute to over-testing for bacteremia. Further investigation of how to optimize blood culture use is warranted.

Development and Implementation of a Bedside Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter Service in a PICU.

OBJECTIVES: To create a bedside peripherally inserted central catheter service to increase placement of bedside peripherally inserted central catheter in PICU patients. DESIGN: Two-phase observational, pre-post design. SETTING: Single-center quaternary noncardiac PICU. PATIENTS: All patients admitted to the PICU. INTERVENTIONS: From June 1, 2015, to May 31, 2017, a bedside peripherally inserted central catheter service team was created (phase I) and expanded (phase II) as part of a quality improvement initiative. A multidisciplinary team developed a PICU peripherally inserted central catheter evaluation tool to identify amenable patients and to suggest location and provider for procedure performance. Outcome, process, and balancing metrics were evaluated. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Bedside peripherally inserted central catheter service placed 130 of 493 peripherally inserted central catheter (26%) resulting in 2,447 hospital central catheter days. A shift in bedside peripherally inserted central catheter centerline proportion occurred during both phases. Median time from order to catheter placement was reduced for peripherally inserted central catheters placed by bedside peripherally inserted central catheter service compared with placement in interventional radiology (6 hr [interquartile range, 2-23 hr] vs 34 hr [interquartile range, 19-61 hr]; p < 0.001). Successful access was achieved by bedside peripherally inserted central catheter service providers in 96% of patients with central tip position in 97%. Bedside peripherally inserted central catheter service central line-associated bloodstream infection and venous thromboembolism rates were similar to rates for peripherally inserted central catheters placed in interventional radiology (all central line-associated bloodstream infection, 1.23 vs 2.18; p = 0.37 and venous thromboembolism, 1.63 vs 1.57; p = 0.91). Peripherally inserted central catheters in PICU patients had reduced in-hospital venous thromboembolism rate compared with PICU temporary catheter in PICU rate (1.59 vs 5.36; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Bedside peripherally inserted central catheter service implementation increased bedside peripherally inserted central catheter placement and employed a patient-centered and timely process. Balancing metrics including central line-associated bloodstream infection and venous thromboembolism rates were not significantly different between peripherally inserted central catheters placed by bedside peripherally inserted central catheter service and those placed in interventional radiology.

Application of Participatory Ergonomics to the Dissemination of a Quality Improvement Program for Optimizing Blood Culture Use.

BACKGROUND: Blood cultures are overused in pediatric ICUs (PICUs), which may lead to unnecessary antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. Using a participatory ergonomics (PE) approach, the authors disseminated a quality improvement (QI) program for optimizing blood culture use in PICUs to a national 14-hospital collaborative. The objective of this study was to evaluate the dissemination process and its impact on blood culture reduction. METHODS: The PE approach emphasized three key principles (stakeholder participation, application of human factors and ergonomics knowledge and tools, and cross-site collaboration) with a six-step dissemination process. Data on interactions between sites and the coordinating team and site experiences with the dissemination process were collected using site diaries and semiannual surveys with local QI teams, respectively, and correlated with the site-specific change in blood culture rates. RESULTS: Overall, participating sites were able to successfully implement the program and reduced their blood culture rates from 149.4 blood cultures per 1,000 patient-days/month before implementation to 100.5 blood cultures per 1,000 patient-days/month after implementation, corresponding to a 32.7% relative reduction (p < 0.001). Variations in the dissemination process, as well as in local interventions and implementation strategies, were observed across sites. Site-specific changes in blood culture rates were weakly negatively correlated with the number of preintervention interactions with the coordinating team (p = 0.057) but not correlated with their experiences with the six domains of the dissemination process or their interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The authors applied a PE approach to disseminate a QI program for optimizing PICU blood culture use to a multisite collaborative. Working with local stakeholders, participating sites tailored their interventions and implementation processes and achieved the goal of reducing blood culture use.

Comparison of Administrative Database-Derived and Hospital-Derived Data for Monitoring Blood Culture Use in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

BACKGROUND: Optimizing blood culture practices requires monitoring of culture use. Collecting culture data from electronic medical records can be resource intensive. Our objective was to determine whether administrative data could serve as a data source to measure blood culture use in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). METHODS: Using data from a national diagnostic stewardship collaborative to reduce blood culture use in PICUs, we compared the monthly number of blood cultures and patient-days collected from sites (site-derived) and the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS, administrative-derived), an administrative data warehouse, for 11 participating sites. The collaborative's reduction in blood culture use was compared using administrative-derived and site-derived data. RESULTS: Across all sites and months, the median of the monthly relative blood culture rate (ratio of administrative- to site-derived data) was 0.96 (Q1: 0.77, Q3: 1.24). The administrative-derived data produced an estimate of blood culture reduction over time that was attenuated toward the null compared with site-derived data. CONCLUSIONS: Administrative data on blood culture use from the PHIS database correlates unpredictably with hospital-derived PICU data. The limitations of administrative billing data should be carefully considered before use for ICU-specific data.

Determinants of Blood Culture Use in Critically Ill Children: A Multicenter Qualitative Study.

Blood cultures are fundamental in diagnosing and treating sepsis in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), but practices vary widely. Overuse can lead to false positive results and unnecessary antibiotics. Specific factors underlying decisions about blood culture use and overuse are unknown. Therefore, we aimed to identify perceived determinants of blood culture use in the PICU. Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews of clinicians (M.D., D.O., R.N., N.P., P.A.) from 6 PICUs who had participated in a quality improvement collaborative about blood culture practices. We developed interview questions by combining elements of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and behavioral economics. We conducted telephone interviews, open-coded the transcripts, and used modified content analysis to determine key themes and mapped themes to elements of Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and behavioral economics. Results: We reached thematic saturation in 24 interviews. Seven core themes emerged across 3 Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research domains: individual characteristics [personal belief in the importance of blood cultures, the perception that blood cultures are a low-risk test]; inner setting [adherence to site-specific usual practices, site-specific overall approach to PICU care (collaborative versus hierarchical), influence of non-PICU clinicians on blood culture decisions]; and outer setting [patient-specific risk factors, sepsis guidelines]. In addition, outcome bias, default bias, and loss aversion emerged as salient behavioral economics concepts. Conclusions: Determinants of blood culture use include individual clinician characteristics, inner setting, and outer setting, as well as default bias, outcome bias, and loss aversion. These determinants will now inform the development of candidate strategies to optimize culture practices.

Numbers and narratives: how qualitative methods can strengthen the science of paediatric antimicrobial stewardship.

Antimicrobial and diagnostic stewardship initiatives have become increasingly important in paediatric settings. The value of qualitative approaches to conduct stewardship work in paediatric patients is being increasingly recognized. This article seeks to provide an introduction to basic elements of qualitative study designs and provide an overview of how these methods have successfully been applied to both antimicrobial and diagnostic stewardship work in paediatric patients. A multidisciplinary team of experts in paediatric infectious diseases, paediatric critical care and qualitative methods has written a perspective piece introducing readers to qualitative stewardship work in children, intended as an overview to highlight the importance of such methods and as a starting point for further work. We describe key differences between qualitative and quantitative methods, and the potential benefits of qualitative approaches. We present examples of qualitative research in five discrete topic areas of high relevance for paediatric stewardship work: provider attitudes; provider prescribing behaviours; stewardship in low-resource settings; parents' perspectives on stewardship; and stewardship work focusing on select high-risk patients. Finally, we explore the opportunities for multidisciplinary academic collaboration, incorporation of innovative scientific disciplines and young investigator growth through the use of qualitative research in paediatric stewardship. Qualitative approaches can bring rich insights and critically needed new information to antimicrobial and diagnostic stewardship efforts in children. Such methods are an important tool in the armamentarium against worsening antimicrobial resistance, and a major opportunity for investigators interested in moving the needle forward for stewardship in paediatric patients.

Association of Diagnostic Stewardship for Blood Cultures in Critically Ill Children With Culture Rates, Antibiotic Use, and Patient Outcomes: Results of the Bright STAR Collaborative.

Importance: Blood culture overuse in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) can lead to unnecessary antibiotic use and contribute to antibiotic resistance. Optimizing blood culture practices through diagnostic stewardship may reduce unnecessary blood cultures and antibiotics. Objective: To evaluate the association of a 14-site multidisciplinary PICU blood culture collaborative with culture rates, antibiotic use, and patient outcomes. Design, Setting, and Participants: This prospective quality improvement (QI) collaborative involved 14 PICUs across the United States from 2017 to 2020 for the Bright STAR (Testing Stewardship for Antibiotic Reduction) collaborative. Data were collected from each participating PICU and from the Children's Hospital Association Pediatric Health Information System for prespecified primary and secondary outcomes. Exposures: A local QI program focusing on blood culture practices in the PICU (facilitated by a larger QI collaborative). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was blood culture rates (per 1000 patient-days/mo). Secondary outcomes included broad-spectrum antibiotic use (total days of therapy and new initiations of broad-spectrum antibiotics ≥3 days after PICU admission) and PICU rates of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), Clostridioides difficile infection, mortality, readmission, length of stay, sepsis, and severe sepsis/septic shock. Results: Across the 14 PICUs, the blood culture rate was 149.4 per 1000 patient-days/mo preimplementation and 100.5 per 1000 patient-days/mo postimplementation, for a 33% relative reduction (95% CI, 26%-39%). Comparing the periods before and after implementation, the rate of broad-spectrum antibiotic use decreased from 506 days to 440 days per 1000 patient-days/mo, respectively, a 13% relative reduction (95% CI, 7%-19%). The broad-spectrum antibiotic initiation rate decreased from 58.1 to 53.6 initiations/1000 patient-days/mo, an 8% relative reduction (95% CI, 4%-11%). Rates of CLABSI decreased from 1.8 to 1.1 per 1000 central venous line days/mo, a 36% relative reduction (95% CI, 20%-49%). Mortality, length of stay, readmission, sepsis, and severe sepsis/septic shock were similar before and after implementation. Conclusions and Relevance: Multidisciplinary diagnostic stewardship interventions can reduce blood culture and antibiotic use in the PICU. Future work will determine optimal strategies for wider-scale dissemination of diagnostic stewardship in this setting while monitoring patient safety and balancing measures.

Harnessing implementation science to optimize harm prevention in critically ill children: A pilot study of bedside nurse CLABSI bundle performance in the pediatric intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE: Central-line associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) is associated with increased mortality, morbidity, and cost in hospitalized children. An evidence-based bundle of care can decrease CLABSI, but bundle compliance is imperfect. We explored factors impacting bundle performance in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) by bedside nurses. METHODS: Single-center cross-sectional electronic survey of PICU bedside nurses in an academic tertiary care center; using the COM-B (capability, opportunity, motivation) and TDF (theoretical domains framework) behavioral models to explore CLABSI bundle performance and identify barriers to compliance. RESULTS: We analyzed 160 completed surveys from 226 nurses (71% response rate). CLABSI knowledge was strong (capability). However, challenges related to opportunity were identified: 71% reported that patient care requirements impact bundle completion; 32% described the bundle as stressful; and CLABSI was viewed as the most difficult of all bundles. Seventy-five percent reported being highly impacted by physician attitude toward the CLABSI bundle (motivation). CONCLUSIONS: PICU nurses are knowledgeable and motivated to prevent CLABSI, but face challenges from competing clinical tasks, limited resources, and complex family interactions. Physician engagement was specifically noted to impact nurse motivation to complete the bundle. Interventions that address these challenges may improve bundle performance and prevent CLABSI in critically ill children.

Survey-based Work System Assessment to Facilitate Large-scale Dissemination of Healthcare Quality Improvement Programs.

INTRODUCTION: The dissemination of quality improvement (QI) interventions to a broader range of healthcare settings requires a proactive assessment of local work systems and processes. The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of using a survey-based work system assessment (WSA) tool to facilitate the dissemination of a program for optimizing blood culture (BC) use. METHODS: Informed by findings from an onsite, interview-based WSA at 2 hospitals, a 50-item WSA survey was devised and administrated to 15 hospitals participating in a QI collaborative. WSA survey data were summarized, shared, and discussed with individual hospitals to inform the adaptation and implementation of the BC program. Physician champions leading the local QI team assessed the use of the WSA survey by completing an 8-item survey. RESULTS: A total of 347 clinicians completed the WSA survey, and physician champions at 12 hospitals evaluated the use of the WSA survey. Both the WSA survey data and the evaluation of the WSA survey showed that the survey-based WSA tool could help participating hospitals understand their current BC ordering practices and identify potential barriers to implementing the program from the perspectives of different clinicians. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated how a survey-based tool could be used to facilitate WSA in the dissemination of a program for improving BC use to a multisite collaborative. A survey-based WSA tool can be used to facilitate future large-scale intervention dissemination efforts.

Novel risk factors for central-line associated bloodstream infections in critically ill children.

OBJECTIVE: Central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) cause morbidity and mortality in critically ill children. We examined novel and/or modifiable risk factors for CLABSI to identify new potential targets for infection prevention strategies. METHODS: This single-center retrospective matched case-control study of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients was conducted in a 60-bed PICU from April 1, 2013, to December 31, 2017. Case patients were in the PICU, had a central venous catheter (CVC), and developed a CLABSI. Control patients were in the PICU for ≥2 days, had a CVC for ≥3 days, and did not develop a CLABSI. Cases and controls were matched 1:4 on age, number of complex chronic conditions, and hospital length of stay. RESULTS: Overall, 72 CLABSIs were matched to 281 controls. Univariate analysis revealed 14 risk factors, and 4 remained significant in multivariable analysis: total number of central line accesses in the 3 days preceding CLABSI (80+ accesses: OR, 4.8; P = .01), acute behavioral health needs (OR, 3.2; P = .02), CVC duration >7 days (8-14 days: OR, 4.2; P = .01; 15-29 days: OR, 9.8; P < .01; 30-59 days: OR, 17.3; P < .01; 60-89 days: OR, 39.8; P < .01; 90+ days: OR, 4.9; P = .01), and hematologic/immunologic disease (OR, 1.5; P = .05). CONCLUSIONS: Novel risk factors for CLABSI in PICU patients include acute behavioral health needs and >80 CVC accesses in the 3 days before CLABSI. Interventions focused on these factors may reduce CLABSIs in this high-risk population.

Work System Assessment to Facilitate the Dissemination of a Quality Improvement Program for Optimizing Blood Culture Use: A Case Study Using a Human Factors Engineering Approach.

BACKGROUND: Work system assessments can facilitate successful implementation of quality improvement programs. Using a human factors engineering approach, we conducted a work system assessment to facilitate the dissemination of a quality improvement program for optimizing blood culture use in pediatric intensive care units at 2 hospitals. METHODS: Semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted with clinicians from Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital and University of Virginia Medical Center. Interview data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Blood culture-ordering practices are influenced by various work system factors, including people, tasks, tools and technologies, the physical environment, organizational conditions, and the external environment. A clinical decision-support tool could facilitate implementation by (1) standardizing blood culture-ordering practices, (2) ensuring that prescribing clinicians review the patient's condition before ordering a blood culture, (3) facilitating critical thinking, and (4) empowering nurses to communicate with physicians and advocate for adherence to blood culture-ordering guidelines. CONCLUSION: The success of interventions for optimizing blood culture use relies heavily on the local context. A work system analysis using a human factors engineering approach can identify key areas to be addressed for the successful dissemination of quality improvement interventions.

Association of a blood culture utilization intervention on antibiotic use in a pediatric intensive care unit.

Blood cultures are essential for the evaluation of sepsis. However, they may sometimes be obtained inappropriately, leading to high false-positive rates, largely due to contamination.1 As a quality improvement project, clinician decision-support tools for evaluating patients with fever or signs and symptoms of sepsis were implemented in April 2014 in our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). This initiative resulted in a 46% decrease in blood culture obtainment2 and has been replicated in other institutions.3 It is important to evaluate antibiotic use as a balancing measure because a reduction in blood cultures could lead to an increase in antibiotic treatment days if clinicians continued empiric treatment in scenarios when blood culture results were not available. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether antibiotic use in the PICU changed in association with a reduction in blood culture utilization.

Sustainability of the Bright STAR Diagnostic Stewardship Program to Reduce Blood Culture Rates Among Critically Ill Children.

This quality improvement study evaluates whether pediatric intensive care units sustained reduced blood culture rates after participation in the Bright STAR collaborative from 2017 to 2020.

Dissemination of a Novel Framework to Improve Blood Culture Use in Pediatric Critical Care.

INTRODUCTION: Single center work demonstrated a safe reduction in unnecessary blood culture use in critically ill children. Our objective was to develop and implement a customizable quality improvement framework to reduce unnecessary blood culture testing in critically ill children across diverse clinical settings and various institutions. METHODS: Three pediatric intensive care units (14 bed medical/cardiac; 28 bed medical; 22 bed cardiac) in 2 institutions adapted and implemented a 5-part Blood Culture Improvement Framework, supported by a coordinating multidisciplinary team. Blood culture rates were compared for 24 months preimplementation to 24 months postimplementation. RESULTS: Blood culture rates decreased from 13.3, 13.5, and 11.5 cultures per 100 patient-days preimplementation to 6.4, 9.1, and 8.3 cultures per 100 patient-days postimplementation for Unit A, B, and C, respectively; a decrease of 32% (95% confidence interval, 25-43%; P < 0.001) for the 3 units combined. Postimplementation, the proportion of total blood cultures drawn from central venous catheters decreased by 51% for the 3 units combined (95% confidence interval, 29-66%; P < 0.001). Notable difference between units included the identity and involvement of the project champion, adaptions of the clinical tools, and staff monitoring and communication of project progress. Qualitative data also revealed a core set of barriers and facilitators to behavior change around pediatric intensive care unit blood culture practices. CONCLUSIONS: Three pediatric intensive units adapted a novel 5-part improvement framework and successfully reduced blood culture use in critically ill children, demonstrating that different providers and practice environments can adapt diagnostic stewardship programs.