Enhancing quality and safety in critical care—Challenges and strategies for central venous catheters (4 March 2024)

Summary

Central venous catheters (CVCs) are widely used in US critical care settings for medication administration, monitoring and reliable venous access. Despite the benefits of CVCs, complications, particularly infections, have become a major focus of US hospital quality improvement efforts due to federal and state initiatives that emphasise patient safety, transparency and accountability. In this commentary in JAMA Network, the authors look at recent research surrounding CVC complications and highlight approaches to help tackle these issues.