Nicole C. Gavin

Exploring Palliative Care Provision for Recipients of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Who Relapsed

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To quantify the characteristics of patients who die in the hospital from relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT), explore palliative care integration and end-of-life (EOL) care, and benchmark standards of care. DESIGN Retrospective chart review cohort study; a cross-sectional survey design guided a national survey. SETTING A chart review was conducted in a large tertiary hospital in Australia. The survey was distributed to leading alloHSCT centers in Australia and New Zealand. SAMPLE The chart review sample group was patients in the hematology department who had received an alloHSCT, relapsed, and died in the hospital (N = 40). The survey sample group was the most advanced nurse involved in patient care at each facility (N = 14). METHODS A quantitative data collection tool created for chart review, as well as patient notes written by the physician, were examined. The quantitative data collection tool was created for the survey, which was conducted via email or telephone. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES The chart review measured patient demographics, palliative care integration, EOL care, and symptoms. Survey topics included services available, referrals to palliative care services, EOL discussions, and symptom management. FINDINGS About half of the patients were seen by the palliative care service. Many patients experienced severe symptoms in the terminal phase. Survey participants felt EOL discussions were left until the terminal phase. Participants believed early palliative care integration was beneficial for patients and their family. CONCLUSIONS The chart review demonstrated late integration of palliative care and poor standards of EOL care. Survey results reiterated this and reflected that nurses are supportive of earlier integration of palliative care and improving EOL care. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING Palliative care should be integrated earlier, and nursing roles have the potential to address unmet needs for these patients.

Intravascular device administration sets: replacement after standard versus prolonged use in hospitalised patients—a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial (The RSVP Trial)

Introduction Vascular access devices (VADs), such as peripheral or central venous catheters, are vital across all medical and surgical specialties. To allow therapy or haemodynamic monitoring, VADs frequently require administration sets (AS) composed of infusion tubing, fluid containers, pressure-monitoring transducers and/or burettes. While VADs are replaced only when necessary, AS are routinely replaced every 3–4 days in the belief that this reduces infectious complications. Strong evidence supports AS use up to 4 days, but there is less evidence for AS use beyond 4 days. AS replacement twice weekly increases hospital costs and workload. Methods and analysis This is a pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial (RCT) of equivalence design comparing AS replacement at 4 (control) versus 7 (experimental) days. Randomisation is stratified by site and device, centrally allocated and concealed until enrolment. 6554 adult/paediatric patients with a central venous catheter, peripherally inserted central catheter or peripheral arterial catheter will be enrolled over 4 years. The primary outcome is VAD-related bloodstream infection (BSI) and secondary outcomes are VAD colonisation, AS colonisation, all-cause BSI, all-cause mortality, number of AS per patient, VAD time in situ and costs. Relative incidence rates of VAD-BSI per 100 devices and hazard rates per 1000 device days (95% CIs) will summarise the impact of 7-day relative to 4-day AS use and test equivalence. Kaplan-Meier survival curves (with log rank Mantel-Cox test) will compare VAD-BSI over time. Appropriate parametric or non-parametric techniques will be used to compare secondary end points. p Values of <0.05 will be considered significant. Ethics and dissemination Relevant ethical approvals have been received. CONSORT Statement recommendations will be used to guide preparation of any publication. Results will be presented at relevant conferences and sent to the major organisations with clinical practice guidelines for VAD care. Trial registration number Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ACTRN 12610000505000).

Does Parenteral Nutrition Increase the Risk of Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infection? A Systematic Literature Review

Background: Central venous access devices (CVADs) are used for parenteral nutrition (PN) delivery. We systematically reviewed research-based publications that reported comparative rates of catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) in patients with CVADs who received PN vs those who did not receive PN therapy. Materials and Methods: The literature search included the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PubMed up to July 14, 2015, to identity studies that compared patients with a CVAD who did and did not have PN therapy. Results: Eleven observational studies were identified, comprising 2854 participants with 6287 CVADs. Six studies produced significant results in favor of non-PN, 4 studies showed no evidence of a difference between PN and non-PN, and 1 study produced significant results in favor of PN when analyzed per patient with multiple CVADs. Incidence ranged from 0 to 6.6 CRBSIs per 1000 CVAD days in the PN patients and 0.39 to 3.6 CRBSIs per 1000 CVAD days in the non-PN patients. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool for nonrandomized studies of interventions was used. Eight studies were rated as moderate risk of bias, 2 as serious, and 1 as critical. Conclusion: The data presented in this systematic review are not sufficient to establish whether patients receiving PN are more at risk of developing CRBSI than those who do not. Future PN studies needs to adjust for baseline imbalances and improve quality and reporting.

Culture-independent detection of chlorhexidine resistance genes qacA/B and smr in bacterial DNA recovered from body sites treated with chlorhexidine-containing dressings

Purpose. Dressings containing chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) are increasingly used in clinical environments for prevention of infection at central venous catheter insertion sites. Increased tolerance to this biocide in staphylococci is primarily associated with the presence of qacA/B and smr genes. Methodology. We used a culture‐independent method to assess the prevalence of these genes in 78 DNA specimens recovered from the skin of 43 patients at catheter insertion sites in the arm that were covered with CHG dressings. Results. Of the 78 DNA specimens analysed, 52 (67%) possessed qacA/B and 14 (18%) possessed smr; all samples positive for smr were also positive for qacA/B. These prevalence rates were not statistically greater than those observed in a subsample of specimens taken from non‐CHG treated contralateral arms and non‐CHG‐dressing exposed arms. A statistically greater proportion of specimens with greater than 72 h exposure to CHG dressings were qac‐positive (P=0.04), suggesting that the patients were contaminated with bacteria or DNA containing qacA/B during their hospital stay. The presence of qac genes was not positively associated with the presence of DNA specific for Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus in these specimens. Conclusion. Our results show that CHG genes are highly prevalent on hospital patients’ skin, even in the absence of viable bacteria.

Cost of vascular access devices in public hospitals in Queensland

Objective The aim of this study was to quantify the utilisation of vascular access devices in Queensland public hospitals and their associated cost.Methods Devices were broadly classified into peripheral intravenous catheters, central venous catheters and arterial lines. The number of catheters used was obtained from a central procurement department at Queensland Health and validated using Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) claims and/or hospital data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for the same period. Resources consumed included equipment and staff time required to insert and remove catheters. Equipment costs were valued using negotiated hospital prices, and staff time was valued at the fixed industrial award wages in Australia or relevant MBS fees. Device maintenance costs (e.g. dressings) and costs of treating complications were excluded.Results Approximately 2.75 million vascular access devices were used in public hospitals in Queensland in 2016, at a total cost of A

Peripherally InSerted CEntral catheter dressing and securement in patients with cancer: The PISCES trial. Protocol for a 2x2 factorial, superiority randomised controlled trial

59.14 million. This comprised a total equipment cost of around A

Sterile v aseptic non-touch technique for needle-less connector care on central venous access devices in a bone marrow transplant population: A comparative study

10.17 million and a total labour cost of A

Validity of the Waterlow scale and risk of pressure injury in acute care

48.85 millionConclusion Vascular access is an important component of healthcare expenditure. The present study is the first to characterise and cost vascular access devices in Queensland. Further research is needed on the costs of maintaining device function and of treating complications associated with vascular access.What is known about the topic? The cost of vascular access in Australia has previously been estimated from modelling, using various assumptions, or based on device utilisation in other countries.What does this paper add? For the first time, device utilisation for vascular access in Queensland has been quantified and costed. Results were obtained from reliable sources and validated against other databases.What are the implications for practitioners? Practitioners and managers may now provide accurate estimates about the cost of catheter failure, a potentially preventable problem that affects up to 50% of all catheters placed. Attaching costs to such failure may also stimulate research into how to reduce the problem.

Frequency of dressing changes for central venous access devices on catheter‐related infections

Introduction Around 30% of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) fail from vascular, infectious or mechanical complications. Patients with cancer are at highest risk, and this increases morbidity, mortality and costs. Effective PICC dressing and securement may prevent PICC failure; however, no large randomised controlled trial (RCT) has compared alternative approaches. We designed this RCT to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of dressing and securements to prevent PICC failure. Methods and analysis Pragmatic, multicentre, 2×2 factorial, superiority RCT of (1) dressings (chlorhexidine gluconate disc (CHG) vs no disc) and (2) securements (integrated securement dressing (ISD) vs securement device (SED)). A qualitative evaluation using a knowledge translation framework is included. Recruitment of 1240 patients will occur over 3 years with allocation concealment until randomisation by a centralised service. For the dressing hypothesis, we hypothesise CHG discs will reduce catheter-associated bloodstream infection (CABSI) compared with no CHG disc. For the securement hypothesis, we hypothesise that ISD will reduce composite PICC failure (infection (CABSI/local infection), occlusion, dislodgement or thrombosis), compared with SED. Secondary outcomes: types of PICC failure; safety; costs; dressing/securement failure; dwell time; microbial colonisation; reversible PICC complications and consumer acceptability. Relative incidence rates of CABSI and PICC failure/100 devices and/1000 PICC days (with 95% CIs) will summarise treatment impact. Kaplan-Meier survival curves (and log rank Mantel-Haenszel test) will compare outcomes over time. Secondary end points will be compared between groups using parametric/non-parametric techniques; p values <0.05 will be considered to be statistically significant. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval from Queensland Health (HREC/15/QRCH/241) and Griffith University (Ref. No. 2016/063). Results will be published. Trial registration Trial registration number is: ACTRN12616000315415.

Validity of the Waterlow screening tool and risks for pressure injury in acute care

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to determine whether a variation in practice from an aseptic non-touch technique (ANTT) to a sterile technique when changing needleless connectors on central venous access devices (CVAD) was associated with any change in catheter related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) rates in the bone marrow transplant (BMT) population. METHODS A two group comparative study without concurrent controls using a retrospective cohort was conducted in a large metropolitan hospital in Brisbane, Australia. INCLUSION CRITERIA haematological malignancy, Hickman catheter inserted, age ≥18. A tool was developed to extract historical data from medical records and pathology results. PRIMARY OUTCOME CRBSI. SECONDARY OUTCOMES laboratory confirmed bloodstream infection, mucosal barrier injury laboratory confirmed bloodstream infection and skin contaminants. RESULTS One hundred and fifty patients were assessed, 73/150 (49%) in the ANTT group. DEMOGRAPHICS males 95/150 (63%), with 71/150 (47%) receiving an autologous BMT. No difference in CRBSI rates between groups was observed (ANTT n = 3 (4%) vs Sterile n = 1 (2.7%), p = 0.357 Fishers Exact Test). Infection by skin contaminants were identified in a similar number of cases across both groups (ANTT n = 9 (12.3%) vs Sterile n = 6 (7.8%)). CONCLUSIONS No causal effect can be deduced from this small study; nevertheless results imply that an ANTT was not associated with increased CRBSI. Poor hand hygiene and ANTT were perceived across both groups. Quality and consistent ANTT is a safe method for managing intravascular devices, however education and awareness of pathogen transfer from healthcare worker and patient to their device is required.