Preventing Infection from Central Lines

What is a Central Venous Line?

At some time, you or someone you know may have had an IV (intravenous) line. IVs are used when you need medicine or other fluids. Most of the time, an IV is placed in a small vein in your arm or hand.

Sometimes, you may need a different type of IV called a central line. Central lines go into larger veins. We use them when we

  • cannot place a smaller IV in your arm or hand,
  • need to give you a large amount of fluid,
  • must use medicine that irritates smaller veins, or
  • need to give you nutrition through an IV.  

When a patient gets a bloodstream infection associated with the central line, it is called a Central Line Associated Bloodstream infection.

Preventive Steps

Vidant Health is committed to preventing central line associated infections. Doctors, nurses and other staff follow the steps below to keep you safe from a bloodstream infection. According to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), hospitals should use a protocol called the Central Line Bundle to help reduce infections.

  • We make sure our hands are clean before putting the central line needle in your skin or touching your skin where the needle goes in.
  • We also clean our hands before we change a bandage or give you medicine or fluid through the central line.
  • The doctors and nurses who place a central line in your vein must wear sterile (germ-free) gowns, gloves, masks and caps.
  • We cover you with a sterile drape from head to toe while we put the central line in your vein.
  • We use a sterile process to insert the central line.
  • The doctors and nurses prepare your skin with an antiseptic cleanser called CHG.
  • We don't put a central line near your groin (lower abdomen) except in an emergency.
  • We check every day to see if you still need the central line.

How are we doing?

Some members of our Vidant Health staff are trained as special monitors. These monitors watch out for patients who have a Central Venous Line. They check to see if staff is following the steps to prevent infection.  The Central Line Bundle compliance results reflect how closely the above steps were followed.

If you click on one of the hospitals on the right, you can see if that hospital is doing a good job of preventing infections caused by a Central Venous Line.

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