At Duke Health, we recognize the unique vantage point of nurses. So when they have ideas to improve patient care, we listen. Our nurses are always looking for ways to make a difference for our patients, their families, our staff and for the profession. And that’s why we foster their innovative ideas. This example from Marybeth Tetlow, a clinical nurse on the Duke Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit, is an excellent example of Duke Nursing ingenuity. When her team continued to struggle with keeping central lines and IV tubing clean with their pediatric bone marrow patients, she had an idea. That idea was to protect the central lines with waterproof fabric and Velcro. So she sat down at her kitchen table to sew a prototype, and the Line Snuggler® was born. The Line Snuggler® is now a design-patented and proven nursing product for keeping central lines and connected IV tubing covered and contained, thus reducing costs and apprehension, increasing patient comfort and decreasing the number of line contamination protocols. These waterproof sleeves provide a means to protect central line lumens and their connected IV tubing from contamination or entanglement in infants, small children, and now older patients as well. The unique design of the Line Snuggler® keeps lines bundled and organized for easy movement and shields the central lines and all IV connection points from body fluids and other debris, such as glitter, Play-Doh®, glue, or paint. Additionally, this innovation decreases the anxiety of patients, families, and nurses, as children actively go through intense treatment for life-threatening illnesses. “I’ve had so much help and support from Duke and they were with me from the beginning,” said Tetlow. “The Duke Office of Licensing and Ventures has helped me in protecting my ideas’ design and in the early stages of a start-up. Their involvement and the support from Duke Nursing leadership and the Duke School of Nursing Health and Innovation Lab really fostered the innovation and made it possible. Because of their support, I can continue to work to refine the product to the benefit of patients, families and nurses everywhere.”