@article {BowenF51, author = {J R Bowen and I Callander and R Richards and K B Lindrea}, editor = {, and Chaudhari, Tejasvi and Spence, Kaye and Carmo, Kathryn and Wake, Chris and Kinross, Denise and Callander, Ian and Richards, Robyn and Shein, Doron and Jolley, Barbara and Shingde, Vijay and Brandenburg, Ulrike and Lindrea, Kwee Bee and Bolisetti, Srinivas and Cameron, Dianne and Bowen, Jennifer and Bowers, Sharan and Gordon, Adrienne and Bredemeyer, Sandie and Polverino, Jan and Morritt, Mary Lou and Marceau, James and Rochefort, Marilyn and Tracy, Mark and Bajuk, Barbara and Sedgley, Sara and Leckie, Mark and Sinclair, Lynn}, title = {Decreasing infection in neonatal intensive care units through quality improvement}, volume = {102}, number = {1}, pages = {F51--F57}, year = {2017}, doi = {10.1136/archdischild-2015-310165}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group}, abstract = {Objective To decrease the incidence of bloodstream infection (BSI) for neonates \<29 weeks gestation through quality improvement.Design Commencing in September 2011, eight neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory, Australia participated in the Sepsis Prevention in NICUs Group project, a multicentre quality improvement initiative to reduce neonatal infection through implementation of potentially better practices and development of teaching resources. Data were collected for neonates \<29 weeks gestation from D3 to 35, using point of care data entry, for BSI, central line-associated BSI (CLABSI) and antibiotic use. Exponentially weighted moving average data trend lines for rates of BSI, CLABSI and antibiotic use for each NICU were automatically generated and composite charts were provided each month to participating NICUs.Results Between January 2012 and December 2014, data were collected from D3 to 35 for 1075 neonates \<29 weeks gestation who survived \>48 h, for a total of 33 933 bed days and 14 447 central line days. There was a significant decrease from 2012 to 2014 in BSI/1000 bed days (7.8{\textpm}3.0 vs 3.8{\textpm}1.1, p=0.000), CLABSI/1000 bed days (4.6{\textpm}2.1 vs 2.1{\textpm}0.8, p=0.003), CLABSI/1000 central line days (9.9{\textpm}4.3 vs 5.4{\textpm}1.7, p=0.012) and antibiotic days/100 bed days (31.1{\textpm}4.3 vs 25.5{\textpm}4.2, p=0.046).Conclusions This study demonstrates a \>50\% reduction in BSI in extremely premature neonates from D3 to 35 following a collaborative quality improvement project to reduce neonatal infection across an NICU network, supported by timely provision of data.}, issn = {1359-2998}, URL = {https://fn.bmj.com/content/102/1/F51}, eprint = {https://fn.bmj.com/content/102/1/F51.full.pdf}, journal = {Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition} }