Rev Esp Quimioter 2019; 32(2): 130-136

Efficacy of an information system addressed to nursing staff for diminishing contaminated blood cultures: a blind clinical trial

MIGUEL CERVERO, SARA QUEVEDO, MANUEL DEL ÁLAMO, PABLO DEL VALLE, ISABEL WILHELMI, RAFAEL TORRES, JOSE LUIS AGUD, VICTORIA ALCÁZAR, SHEILLA VÁZQUEZ, BEATRIZ GARCÍA

Introduction. Evaluate the efficacy of an information system addressed to nursing staff to lower the blood culture contamination rate.
Methods. A blind clinical trial was conducted at Internal Medicine and Emergency Departments during 2011. After following a reeducation program in BC extraction, participants were randomly selected in a 1:1 ratio. Every participant of the experimental group was informed of each worker’s individual performance; whereas the control group was only informed of the global results.
Results. A total of 977 blood extractions were performed in 12 months. Blood culture contamination rate was 7.5%. This rate was higher in the Emergency Department than in Internal Medicine (10% vs. 3.8%; p=0.001). Factors associated with the higher risk of contamination were, in the univariate analysis, the extraction through a recently implanted blood route and the time of professional experience, while those associated with a lower risk were the extraction in Internal Medicine and through a butterfly needle. On multivariate analysis, extraction through a recently placed access was an independent risk factor for an increased contamination rate (OR 2.29; 95%CI 1.18-4.44, p=0.014), while individual information about the blood culture results (OR 0.11; 95%CI 0.023-0.57; p=0.008), and more than 9 years of professional experience were asso-ciated with fewer contaminations (OR 0.30; 95%CI 0.12-0.77; p=0.012). In the intervention group the contamination rate diminished by a 26 %.
Conclusions. Drawing blood cultures through a recently taken peripheral venous access increased their risk of contamination. The intervention informing the nurse staff of the contamination rate is effective to decrease it.

Rev Esp Quimioter 2019; 32(2): 130-136 [Full-text PDF]