Abstract
Although developments have been made in hospitals to reduce incidences of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs), particularly Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections (CLABSIs), infections continue to trouble medical practitioners. More than 20% of these infections are preventable if proper hygiene habits are practiced. The purpose of this paper is to show how the Stetler Model is implemented with a view to evaluating the existing evaluations for preventing CLABSIs. The Stetler Model has six steps: Preparation, validation, comparative evaluation, decision-making, translation & application and evaluation. Preparation comprises of defining the issue or problem and its significance. In this case CLABSI is the problem at hand. Validation includes the review of existing literature on CLABSI; description of the literature review method and a summary and critique of the research findings. Comparative analysis comprises of comparing existing research to the clinical practice. This was done in the form of randomized control trials and reviews of research studies on Central Venous Catheter (CVC) ICU patients. Decision-making includes the guidelines which nurses must follow for CLABSI reduction to be effective. Translation & application is the stage through which the decisions made regarding CLABSI should be implemented. Examples include implementing nursing policies/ protocols that provide care for central lines and insertion bundle interventions for clinical staff. Kotter’s model of change wad also found to be applicable to making reduction of CLABSIs. The nursing staff in ICU and other hospital departments where catheters are employed should unite to ensure that they all have a thorough understanding on the maintenance of clean central lines. Evaluation involves checking whether the rates of CLABSI are decreasing with implementations of measures.
