Having done a search, on this website, related to my subject I do not wish to engage in a debate regarding ethical practices etc. I specifically want to hear from the end users of these products as our hospital is considering changing from our current vendor to either of the two.
1. How long have you used?
2. Have you seen any benefits?
3. Have you had any problems?
4. Please disclose if you work for the company your hospital utilizes.
Thank you
Carolina Vascular Wellness has used the Invision IV connector since our inception with really great results. The biggest issue with it is it is a little tighter to screw on to, and that is one if the reasons it is such a good connector!! The tight tolerances make it really easy to scrub and give it a really strong CRBSI prevention story.
We presented a poster on our bundle at AVA... We used Bard PICCs, because we felt the reverse taper helped keep blood out of the insertion site, Biopatch, StatLock, and RyMed. We purposely accepted no vendor money for this poster! We went 28 months with no infection in the inpatient AND outpatient population! If you decide to go with this connector you have to have a good orientation for the floor nurses so they understand that the tightness helps protect the patient from bacterial ingress into the bloodstream, otherwise they will complain about the tightness because they are probably used to screwing onto a really loose connector. I don't know much about the clear Microclave but we originally looked at the Invision because Sophie Harnage at Sutter Roseville in Ca. published her bundle results eliminating CRBSI with this connector. Feel free to contact me if you think it would be helpful!
Stephen Harris RN, CRNI, VA-BC
Chief Clinical Officer
Carolina Vascular Wellness
We switched to the InVision Plus in September of 2009. We immediately saw an increase in CLABSIs. Much feedback was recieved regarding the "rebound" of this adapter while trying to screw on. A rep from Rymed thought that perhaps education regarding the "correct angle" at which this tight fitting device was to be used when attaching this adapter to a catheter hub was what was needed. We re-educated staff, continued to follow our rates and eventually switched to the MicroClave (not the clear). We switched to the Microclave in January of 2011 and begin to see immediate results. Our CLABSI rate for 2011 to date is lower than our rate for the year that the RYmed adapter was used. We saw a 30% for our overall hospital wide rate, with some units seeing as much as a 50% decrease.
It appears that other facilities do have success with the Rymed, in our facility it did not perform well.
Yolanda Ballam
Tracking clinical outcomes as you did is the key to this issue. As you said, some products work for one place but not another. So each facility must know what outcomes they are producing. Patient and staff characteristics vary greatly. So your own data is your evidence-based practice. Lynn
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
126 Main Street, PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861
Our acute care setting has a couple of different LAD's but our Pediatric Oncology Dept. has chosen and maintained the Microclave (not clear) and have had outstanding results with ZERO CRBSI's. It has also worked well in our Outpatient setting with our caregivers, as the Microclave is not specific to a certain technique (positive vs. negative displacement).