As 2023 ends, we would like to thank you for reading the Eloquest Healthcare Blog! We hope you have found our posts during the last 12 months to be both informative and impactful to your professional career. Here are some of the past year’s most liked posts that we invite you to visit… In ‘Hospital…
Getting Unstuck: How Detachol Simplifies Adhesive Removal For most patients, medical adhesive removal is a necessary but unpleasant part of the healthcare journey. Strong adhesives are essential for maintaining dressing integrity – particularly for vascular access securement – but they can pose significant challenges when it’s time to remove the dressing. It can involve painful…
Study Proves Gum Mastic Liquid Adhesive Enhances LVAD Dressing Integrity Heart failure is a growing public health issue, and for those with advanced or end-stage heart failure, left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are a true technological lifeline. Alongside heart transplants, LVADs have become the standard of care for patients with advanced heart failure, serving as…
New Study Comparing Benefits of SecurAcath to Adhesive Securement Devices Last month, the findings from a peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) securement study at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in England were published in the Journal of Vascular Access by authors Carol McCormick, Mickey Hawes and Gregory Gilbert. The article expanded on the data set first…
Does the Securement of Drains Matter?Guest Author: M.L. Hawes, DNP, CRNI, VA-BC, ACRP-CP Consider: What is the difference between a vascular access round-tube in a vein to infuse life-saving medications or a drainage round-tube to relieve the body of excess life-ending fluids? Both round tubes need to be secured to accomplish the therapeutic goal. Drains…
Hospital Onset Bacteremia (HOB): Let’s Talk About ReportingGuest Author: Michelle DeVries MPH, CIC, VA-BC, CPHQ, FAPIC For several years there has been a lot of chatter about potential future expansion of bloodstream infection surveillance to move beyond only Central Line-Associated Bloodstream infections (CLABSI) and expand to include all hospital onset bacteremia (HOB). As this gets…
Wednesday Workshop Summary: Growing a Vascular Access Specialty Team (VAST) – One Step at a Time A vascular access specialist model has proven to reduce healthcare acquired complications including catheter-associated infections.1 A specialty team approach also is supported by evidence-based guidelines.2 Despite the evidence for improved patient safety, not all hospitals have a dedicated Vascular…
Vascular Access Device Pistoning: The Problem and SolutionGuest Author: Michelle (Mickey) Hawes, RN, DNP, CRNI, VA-BC, ACRP-CP Pistoning is a term used in the vascular access specialty to describe the small, repeated movement of a peripheral vascular access device (PVAD) or central venous access device (CVAD) in and out at the insertion site. Movement may…
Evidence-Based Strategies for Cost-Effective Occlusion ManagementGuest Author: Lee Steere, RN, CRNI, VA-BCNurse Manager, IV Therapy Services, Hartford Hospital Eloquest Healthcare is excited to welcome Lee Steere RN, CRNI, VA-BC to the Eloquest Healthcare Blog! Lee Steere, RN, CRNI, VA-BC has been leading the IV Team at Hartford Hospital for nearly 20 years. At his facility,…
Nurses Love Tape But It Can Be A Sticky Situation To Remove It Medical adhesive products are a critical tool in healthcare. Across virtually every medical specialty, the use of adhesives facilitates better securement of dressings and medical devices. Proper device securement is particularly important in vascular access, where the overarching goal is to provide…