Table 2

Practices to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia and CLABSIs

Abbreviation	Description	Type of change	HICPAC grade	% Hospitals reported using*
	Practices to prevent CLABSIs
Sterile central venous catheter insertion procedures	Maximum sterile barrier precautions (full gown, sterile gloves, large sterile drape) during central catheter insertion	Hybrid—new technology (longer drapes) with moderate degree of behavioural change required	IA1	84% VA, 71% non-VA3
Sterile central venous catheter insertion procedures	Chlorhexidine gluconate for antisepsis of the insertion site	Hybrid—new technology (new antiseptic) with moderate degree of behavioural change required (new method of application)	IA1	91% VA, 69% non-VA3
Antimicrobial central venous catheters	Antimicrobial (eg, minocycline–rifampin) or antiseptic-impregnated (eg, chlorhexidine) central venous catheters	Technology—change in technology (new catheters) with relatively little required behavioural change	IB1	32% VA, 38% non-VA3
	Practices to prevent VAPs
Head-of-bed elevation	Raising the head of the bed to 30–45°	Behavioural change—Raising the head-of-bed requires a high degree of behavioural change with no new technologies required (although specialised beds are available to support this practice)	II2	83%4
Drain tubes	Subglottic secretion drainage tubes	Technology—change in technology (new tubes) with relatively little required behavioural change	II2	21%4

CLABSI, central line-associated bloodstream infections; HICPAC, Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee; VA, Veteran Affairs; VAPs, ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Numerical superscripts refer to citations in the list of references.
*Weighted proportions based on survey responses from n = 95 VA hospitals and n = 421 non-VA hospitals then weighted using sample weights to reflect the full population of US VA and non-VA acute care hospitals with 50 or more hospital beds and an ICU.