Patience Negicheu Ndifon
TuesdayDec 19 at 2:30am
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Searching Databases
The clinical issue of interest is central line bloodstream infection (CLABSI). CLABSI is a lab-confined bloodstream infection that occurs when microbes enter the patient's central line before penetrating the bloodstream (Reynolds
et al., 2019). The Centers for Disease Control report indicates that approximately 41000 people in the US are affected by CLABSI annually (CDC,
2023). The infection contributes to prolonged hospital stays, high mortality rates, and patient care costs. The prevention measures include surveillance and aseptic techniques (CDC, 2023). Therefore, there is a need to address the clinical problem to reduce care costs and improve quality of life. Based on this problem, the PICOT question will be: "In hospitalized patients with CLABSI, does the implementation of daily chlorhexidine baths intervention compared with daily baths with normal soap and water reduce the prevalence of central line infections during the hospital stay?".
The resources suitable to address the problem were searched from databases, including PsycINFO, ProQuest Nursing and Allied Research, and CINAHL Plus. The key terms entered into the databases' search engines include "central line bloodstream infection," "CLABSI," "chlorhexidine baths," and "daily bath with normal soap and water." A total of 34,356 showed up during the search process. The articles were shown before additional measures such as filtering the publication data, excluding meta-analyses and
systematic reviews, and using Boolean operators were applied. After applying such filters, the number of studies retrieved was reduced to thirty articles.
One might utilize multiple strategies to enhance the precision and impact of a database inquiry concerning the aforementioned PICOT question. Firstly, one can use the database's filtering mechanisms to refine search results to include solely studies such as randomized controlled trials (Lefebvre et al., 2019). Secondly, one can incorporate alternative terms synonymous with the
initial search keywords in subsequent searches (Lefebvre et al., 2019). Such an approach helps retrieve studies that, although employing varied terminology, are pertinent to the topic at hand.
References
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (2023). Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infections. https://www.cdc.gov/hai/bsi/bsi.html
Lefebvre, C., Glanville, J., Briscoe, S., Littlewood, A., Marshall, C., Metzendorf,
M. I., ... & Cochrane Information Retrieval Methods Group. (2019). Searching for and selecting studies. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, 67-107.
