Multiple risk factors are assumed to contribute to the high risk and rate of infection in the CICU patient population. One risk that has been substantiated during a quality improvement project conducted in the CICU is related to accessing lines. The number of times that the patient’s central and arterial lines are entered for blood sampling and medication administration was analyzed utilizing chart review of a small sample group of CICU patients (n=29). For these 29 patients, their lines were accessed 5476 times during their CICU LOS (length of stay). The average CICU LOS was 7.4 days. Of the 29 patients, 3 had open chests with an average duration of 7 days open.