Impact of NABH guidelines on incidence of hospital acquired infections in intensive care- Audit

Introduction: Incidence of nosocomial infections in the intensive care unit (ICU) is about 2 to 5 times higher compare to the general in-patient hospital population. With an effective program for nosocomial infection surveillance, infection rates can be reduced by approximately one-third. Objective: Impact of implementation of NABH Guidelines 5 on the HAIs in ICU. Duration: April - August 2015. Population: All the patients admitted to ICU at Tatwadarsha Hospital, Hubli. Methods: All the ICU health care workers were trained in NABH guidelines for hospital acquired infections. An initial evaluation and a monthly re-evaluation of infection control care- bundle-practice and its documentation was done by infection control team. Results: Urinary tract infections have reduced to 50% from April to August 2015. Central line associated blood stream infections were reduced to zero for 400 central line days. Incidence of surgical site infection, ventilator associated pneumonia had dropped significantly bringing it to zero for 200 operation performed and 80 ventilated days respectively. Conclusion: Reduction in the incidence of HAIs could directly be attributed to implementation of NABH guidelines.