A patient with a dialysis catheter is in one of the ICUs under surveillance for CLABs. If this patient's dialysis catheter is only accessed in the dialysis center, are the central line-days for this patient counted in the ICU's central line-day count?
No, in this instance, the central line-days would not be counted in the ICU central line-day count.
A patient with a dialysis catheter is in one of the ICUs under surveillance for CLABs. Someone from the dialysis center comes to the ICU to perform the dialysis. Will the central line-days for this patient be counted in the ICU's central line-day count?
Yes, in this instance, the central line-days would be counted in the ICU central line-day count.
Note: As it is with all surveillance protocols, you set a definition and apply it consistently. If the line is accessed (by any of the staff) on the unit where surveillance is being conducted, then the line is counted. We do, of course, realize that patients are occasionally dialized on the unit, but this is the exception rather than the rule -- the line days should be counted.