Scan fatigue is affecting sterile processing workflows, resulting in gaps in documentation and adherence. At HSPA 2026, Deannard Esnard, CRCST, CIS, CER, CHL, CFER, CQUIA, discusses the need to streamline tracking systems, improve staff engagement, and strengthen patient safety.
Research presented at HSPA 2026 shows multiple endoscope cleaning methods achieve similar outcomes, but pump-assisted and enhanced approaches reduce staff fatigue, injury risk, and missed steps, highlighting the importance of human factors in infection prevention.
As Arlene Bush, CRCST, CER, CIS, CHL, SME, DSMD, CRMST, concludes her HSPA presidency, she reflects on advocacy, certification efforts, and collaboration, emphasizing mentorship and continued progress in sterile processing ahead of the 2026 conference in Baltimore.
At AORN 2026, Colleen Becker, PhD, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, highlights how nursing education must evolve with technology, generational learning styles, and workforce shortages to better prepare nurses for modern health care challenges.
At AORN 2026 in New Orleans, a colorectal SSI bundle shows how standardized intraoperative nursing practices, interdisciplinary collaboration, and data tracking can reduce infections and improve surgical outcomes.
At AORN26 in New Orleans, a poster highlights surgical smoke risks, urging nationwide evacuation policies to protect health care workers and patients and strengthen nurse-led advocacy for safer operating rooms.
At AORN 2026, experts highlight gaps in endoscope reprocessing, stressing pre-cleaning, visual inspection, and borescope use to improve patient safety and strengthen perioperative and sterile processing collaboration.
At AORN 2026, experts highlight how dedicated perioperative infection preventionists reduce surgical site infections, improve staff engagement, and drive ROI through standardized practices, real-time education, and data-driven strategies.
AORN26 highlights a colorectal SSI prevention bundle using evidence-based isolation techniques, interdisciplinary collaboration, and audit tracking to improve compliance and reduce infection risk in perioperative practice.
AORN26 highlights a multidisciplinary, culture-driven approach that reduced colon surgical site infections by over 27%, demonstrating how standardized bundles, collaboration, and perioperative alignment can significantly improve patient outcomes.
AORN26 highlights how using the teach-back method during PACU discharge education improved patient understanding and reduced surgical site infections, demonstrating the critical role of communication in infection prevention beyond the OR.
At AORN 2026, Erica Smith, DrPH, MBA, shares a practical framework for turning infection prevention guidelines into flexible, sustainable policies that help perioperative teams improve compliance without overwhelming staff or overcomplicating protocols.
AORN26 highlights how collaboration between the operating room and sterile processing department (SPD) reduced instrument contamination, minimized case delays, and improved patient safety, reinforcing the critical role of SPD partnerships in perioperative infection prevention.
AORN26 highlights a hands-on Scrub Bootcamp program that improves perioperative nurse readiness, confidence, and procedural skills, offering a scalable model to strengthen operating room training and patient safety.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a shift away from droplet-based precautions toward a “through the air” framework that recognizes aerosol transmission across a continuum of particle sizes. As measles, SARS-CoV-2, and influenza circulate simultaneously, this article explains why ventilation, respirators, and higher air change rates must become core infection prevention strategies in health care facilities.
Cloud fax, combined with AI and NLP, is helping health systems transform unstructured documents into FHIR-ready data. Experts say modernized fax workflows can support interoperability, reduce data silos, and help rural and under-resourced providers participate in digital health initiatives.
Fragmented systems make coordinated care difficult for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A new interoperability model using the eLTSS standard connects healthcare providers and community organizations to share person-centered service plans and improve outcomes for vulnerable populations.
When operating room delays and tray errors threatened efficiency, leaders at New York Presbyterian built a collaborative bridge with central sterile processing. Through shared metrics, workflow exchanges, and improved communication, first-case-on-time starts climbed from the 50 to nearly 90%.
The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Global Surgical Conference & Expo 2026 is coming up soon. It will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, from April 11 to 14. To give a taste of what will be available, Infection Control Today® is publishing the as-yet unposted interviews from 2025. This interview is on a poster titled “Advocacy Reduces Infection Related to Anastomotic Leaks and Incidental Lacerations.”
At IDWeek, Mohammad Enayet Hossain, PhD, from ICDDR,B, shared a breakthrough: a portable point-of-care test that works in half an hour and has strong accuracy against RT-PCR. A huge step forward for outbreak readiness.
When a nationwide blood-culture bottle shortage squeezed hospitals, a Stanford-led team turned to machine learning by building and openly sharing tools that predict which patients are most likely to have bacteremia and when a culture can be safely deferred. The simplest version works as a quick bedside score, no new software required.
A Bangladesh research team unveiled a suitcase-sized, point-of-care test that detects Nipah virus from respiratory patients in about 30 minutes, showing accuracy comparable to RT-PCR, and designed to bring rapid diagnosis and outbreak control to rural, low-resource settings.
From hand-hygiene audits to the SHEA Board of Trustees, the professional path of Alexander Sundermann, DrPH, CIC, FAPIC, AL-CIP, traces the arc of modern infection prevention. The former hospital IP—now a University of Pittsburgh assistant professor—pairs frontline experience with genomic epidemiology to turn sequencing into outbreak-stopping action.
At IDWeek in Atlanta, former CDC director Tom Frieden unveiled a crisp playbook for infection prevention—“See. Believe. Create.”—arguing it can help hospitals spot outbreaks sooner, reverse drug resistance, and drive HAIs toward zero. He paired the message with a 7-1-7 target: 7 days to find an outbreak, 1 to report, 7 to control.
What do schools need to prevent the spread of infectious diseases? Infection prevention experts and school staff in Nebraska present their collaboration at IDWeek2025.
California’s first locally acquired dengue case in 2023 triggered a rapid serosurveillance effort across Southern California—and IDWeek 2025 results suggest infections are underrecognized, with DENV-3 detected and widespread flavivirus cross-reactivity from West Nile virus complicating diagnosis.
Could Dollar General be Alabama’s next vaccination hub? At IDWeek 2025, John R. Bassler, MS, and colleagues showed that strategically pairing mobile clinics with DG stores could help close stubborn geographic vaccine gaps, especially in counties with higher social deprivation where traditional providers are scarce.
Hospital-wide sequencing of 8,567 Staphylococcus aureus isolates at NYU Langone revealed that many MRSA cases stem from tight community transmission networks—not in-hospital spread. Presented at IDWeek 2025, the work pinpoints distinct clusters (young MSM/substance-use networks, long-term care residents, and children) and urges IPC strategies that bridge hospital and community.
