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6/15/09 news article

Dayton Children's awarded for patient safety in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU)

The Ohio Patient Safety Institute (OPSI) presented its first-ever Best Practice in Patient Safety Award today to The Children's Medical Center of Dayton for implementing the most innovative evidence-based patient safety practice in the state. 

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown presented the award to Jodi Mullen, clinical nurse specialist in Dayton Children's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), and Dr. Vipul Patel during the Advocacy Luncheon as part of the Ohio Hospital Association Annual Meeting at the Hilton Columbus at Easton. 

The staff in Dayton Children's PICU designed and implemented a Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) program in the pediatric population. 

Defined as a pneumonia that develops more than 48 hours after intubation and mechanical ventilation, VAP is the second most common nosocomial infection occurring in children hospitalized in the Dayton PICU. Children who develop VAP have longer stays in the PICU and longer hospital stays in general than children who do not. 

Prior to this program, most evidence supporting interventions to reduce VAP had been produced only in adult health care settings. 

In 2007, staff in the PICU began a 12-month, multidisciplinary collaborative initiative to decrease the incidence of VAP by at least 50 percent, while doubling the days between occurrences. After implementation of the program, the incidence of VAP went from a baseline of five cases the previous fiscal year to zero for over 21 months, far exceeding both the goal and national benchmarks. 

Brown has been actively involved in improving patient safety in Ohio by securing funding for a statewide project to reduce central-line infections. 

Created by OPSI's board of trustees, the Best Practice Award recognizes a program that has demonstrated a focus on improving patient safety in a health care setting, while incorporating regional and national patient safety benchmarks and remaining unique to the Ohio health care market. 

The Children's Medical Center of Dayton is a 155-bed regional pediatric referral center that serves a 20-county region and offers pediatric services in general pediatrics and in more than 35 specialty areas. 

About Ohio Patient Safety Institute:
The Ohio Patient Safety Institute (OPSI) is an organization dedicated to improving patient safety in Ohio. The Institute is a subsidiary of the Ohio Health Council, which was founded by the Ohio Hospital Association, the Ohio State Medical Association, and the Ohio Osteopathic Association. Through this collaboration and common effort, OPSI has the ability to work with over 180 hospitals and 9,000 physicians in Ohio to improve patient safety for all Ohioans. Visit OPSI at www.ohiopatientsafety.org

About Dayton Children's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU): 
The pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Dayton Children's is staffed by a group of board-certified/board-eligible pediatric intensivists (physicians specializing in critical care medicine). It is the only intensive care unit in the region with this focus. The PICU is part of the Wallace Critical Care Complex, which set a new standard of care for the region's critically ill or injured children when it opened in June 2006. Dayton Children's Wallace Critical Care Complex was recently recognized with the 2007 ICU Design Citation Award

For more information, contact: 
Marketing Communications Department 
Phone: 937-641-3666 
marketing@childrensdayton.org