Care nurse in the prevention of infection related to central venous catheter - a systematic literature review

Hospital infection constitutes a serious public health problem. Patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) are subject to greater risk due to the severity of symptoms and the frequency of invasive procedures such as urinary catheterization, intravascular catheters, endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. The scientific literature reports that the vascular catheter-related infection is the leading cause of hospital infection, accounting for 40% of infections occurring in ICU, and also mentions that the clinical manifestations of catheter-associated infection can be difficult to characterize because they may missing local signs of infection. Therefore, the proper handling of venous catheters, as well as monitoring for early detection of signs of inflammation, constitute tasks of nurses, with great impact on the evolution of critical patients. This study deals with a computerized literature search, conducted in the databases BDENF SCIELO, MEDLINE, LILACS, between 2006 to 2010, assessing their applicability to practice nursing. The clinical question was: On account of high complexity, which is the effectiveness of care with central venous catheter for prevention of hospital infection? Were selected 10 articles, 04 in Portuguese and 06 in English, for study and analysis and discussion of results. We conclude that a number of factors provides the increased risk of infection related to use of central venous catheter and the nurse, acting as an agent of patient care, a professional should be cognizant of new techniques and routines that effectively reduce the chance of patient acquired an infection. To this end, this research reinforces the importance of updating knowledge and development of new studies related to the topic