AHRQ’s new Toolkit for Decolonization of Non-ICU Patients with Devices can help clinical teams implement a protocol to reduce bloodstream infections in patients with specific medical devices. The free, customizable toolkit includes step-by-step instructions, handouts, and educational videos to show frontline teams how to apply a decolonization protocol for non-ICU patients who may be at greater risk of bloodstream infections because they have certain devices, such as central venous catheters. The decolonization protocol includes instructions on helping patients bathe with an antiseptic soap and applying a nasal antibiotic ointment to carriers of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The protocol was used in more than 50 hospitals, where it was associated with a roughly 30% reduction in bloodstream infections in patients with specific medical devices such as central venous catheters. Find the toolkit online at: www.ahrq.gov/ABATEtoolkit.
