• Leigh Chapman, Lisa Hargett, Theresa Anderson, Jacqueline Galluzzo, and Paul Zimand.
• Leigh Chapman is the director of surgical nursing, rehabilitation, and vascular access, University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, Towson, Maryland.
• Crit Care Nurse. 2021 Oct 1; 41 (5): e1-e8.

BackgroundCritical care nurses take care of patients with complicated, comorbid, and compromised conditions. These patients are at risk for health care-associated infections, which affect patients' lives and health care systems in various ways.ObjectiveTo gauge the impact of routinely bathing patients with 4% chlorhexidine gluconate solution on the incidence of health care-associated infections in a medical-surgical intensive care unit and a postoperative telemetry unit; to outline the framework for a hospital-wide presurgical chlorhexidine gluconate bathing program and share the results.MethodsA standard bathing protocol using a 4% chlorhexidine gluconate solution was developed. The protocol included time studies, training, monitoring, and surveillance of health care-associated infections.ResultsConsistent patient bathing with 4% chlorhexidine gluconate was associated with a 52% reduction in health care-associated infections in a medical-surgical intensive care unit. The same program in a postoperative telemetry unit yielded a 45% reduction in health care-associated infections.ConclusionA comprehensive daily 4% chlorhexidine gluconate bathing program can be implemented with standardized protocols and detailed instructions and can significantly reduce the incidence of health care-associated infections in intensive care unit and non-intensive care unit hospital settings.©2021 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

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