Collaboration is the key to creating innovations that help improve lives

In his nearly 40 years at 3M, recently-retired Corporate Scientist Bob Asmus always had a singular goal: to use science to find new ways to improve lives. 

Doing so requires a relentless focus on innovation. However, Asmus and his colleagues know that such advancements can’t occur if they never leave the lab. To develop truly meaningful solutions, 3M scientists know they need to fully understand the problems they are trying to solve. This means getting out into the real world, right alongside the people they are trying to help. 

“How can we help clinicians transform patient outcomes?” asks Asmus. “If we don’t understand what their priorities are and how the products they’re using can be improved to better meet the needs of their patients, we can’t provide a solution.”

For this reason, Bob spent much of his career diving deep into the needs of doctors, nurses and patients who use 3M products to treat patients every day. One problem that kept coming up: needing new ways to help reduce the risk of infections that can occur in hospital settings.

If we don’t understand what their priorities are and how the products they’re using can be improved to better meet the needs of their patients, we can’t provide a solution.

Bob Asmus, 3M Corporate Scientist (retired)

To overcome this challenge, Bob and his team dug in, spending years looking for the root cause of such infections and exploring new ways to help reduce the risk of their occurrence. 

The result was 3M™ Tegaderm™ CHG I.V. Securement Dressing – the only transparent dressing cleared by the FDA and proven to reduce catheter-related blood stream infections, all while maintaining site visibility and catheter securement.¹

The benefits of this solution have empowered medical professionals as they provide care and comfort to their patients.

“We all want to spend our lives doing something worthwhile,” says Asmus. “I wanted to have an impact on improving lives. That’s why I came to healthcare, and that’s why I chose 3M.”

1. Bashir MH, Olson LK, Walters SA. Suppression of regrowth of normal skin flora under chlorhexidine gluconate dressings applied to chlorhexidine gluconate-prepped skin.
Am J Infect Control. 2012;40(4):344-8