# Improving Paediatric Blood Culture Documentation | QI Project
> A Quality Improvement (QI) audit on paediatric blood culture documentation. Learn about clinical impacts, audit results, and Cerner EPR interventions.

Tags: paediatrics, quality-improvement, blood-culture, medical-audit, sepsis, healthcare-it, patient-safety, clinical-documentation
## Improving Documentation of Paediatric Blood Culture Collection
* **Project Type:** Quality Improvement (QI) Audit
* **Department:** Paediatrics (April 2026)
* **Objective:** To assess and improve the documentation of blood culture collection to reduce contamination risks and ensure accurate sepsis diagnosis.

## Background & The Problem
* Blood cultures are essential for diagnosing sepsis, but contamination can lead to unnecessary antibiotic use and prolonged hospital stays.
* **Audit Scope:** 96 blood culture entries from electronic patient records (EPR) were reviewed.
* **Key Issue:** Inconsistent documentation makes it impossible to distinguish true infection from contamination.

## Audit Results (Cycle 1)
* **Completion Rates:**
    * Documentation was found to be only **27% complete** overall.
    * **73%** of entries were incomplete.
    * **0%** documented the clinical indication.
    * **0%** documented the volume collected.
    * **64%** failed to document the collecting clinician.
    * **3%** noted timing relative to antibiotic administration.

## Clinical Impact
* Poor documentation leads to: 
    * Antimicrobial overuse and resistance.
    * Potential dismissal of real infections (bacteraemia) as contamination.
    * Lack of accountability and reduced patient safety.

## Proposed Interventions
* **Teaching Sessions:** Targeted training for junior doctors on documentation standards.
* **Cerner Auto-Text:** Implementation of structured templates in the Cerner EPR to prompt complete data entry.
* **Standardized Reminders:** Focus on aseptic technique, indication, and volume targets.
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