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Information About VAD

Here you will find tools used in our campaign to lower catheter-related bloodstream infections at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

These tools include:

1. Posters to be placed in patient rooms detailing central line placement and care

2. Posters to be placed in non-patient areas that remind staff about best practices

3. A banner that is displayed in the lounge/conference room of the units that shows how many weeks it has been since a catheter-related blood stream infection has been reported

4. A nursing checklist that is used as a central venous catheter is inserted that is designed to empower a nurse to tell a doctor that there is a problem, whatever it may be. This can be a very powerful technique to assure the correct insertion protocol is being followed.

5. A Vascular Access Device (VAD) Training Module and Post Test. Every physician in the hospital is required to complete the on-line version of the VAD training before they are allowed place a central line.

The training module is available as a either a Powerpoint 2002 or Powerpoint 95 file. Note that when you open either of these files, Powerpoint may prompt you for a password. Just click on the "Read Only" button to bypass this prompt.

The post-test is available as a Word Document.

6. An orientation slide presentation (Powerpoint file) used during unit orientation for residents and for inservices on central line care for nursing staff

7. The Johns Hopkins Hospital VAD Policy and Additional Resources

Note: The following policies are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat viewer, download it free now.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Kathleen Speck
Research Program Coordinator II/Supervisor
Hospital Epidemiology & Infection Control
Johns Hopkins Hospital
phone: 410-614-6206
fax: 410-614-6207
kspeck2@jhmi.edu

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