December 23rd 2024
Discover how reducing hand hygiene observations from 200 to 50 per unit monthly can optimize infection preventionists' time, enhance safety culture, and improve patient outcomes.
COVID-19 Frontlines: Nurse Eases Isolated Patients in Their Dying Moments
April 23rd 2020Nicole York: "The dying process can take a long time, but I was with her while she was still alert. And I called up her family so that they could talk to her on the phone. But that’s all she got was just to talk to them on the phone."
A Q&A With Linda Spaulding on the Frontlines of COVID-19
April 15th 2020"We have to be comfortable with the fact that we have to reuse PPE for multiple patients. But one of the things they have to remember is those multiple patients all have the same illness. So, it’s not like we’re going to transfer multi-drug resistant organism to the next patient. Because we try not to use the same PPE for those situations."
A Conversation With Christina Tan, MD, MPH: Coronavirus, Public Health, and Infection Prevention
February 24th 2020Christina Tan, MD, MPH, state epidemiologist and assistant commissioner with the New Jersey Department of Health, discusses the current coronavirus outbreak and how infection prevention efforts can help curb its spread.
White Paper: Nasal Decolonization's Broadening Application: Replacing Contact Precautions
March 10th 2018An increase in prevalence in healthcare settings across the continuum of care over several decades has resulted in MRSA and other multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) being given priority as targets of reduction efforts by several regulatory and advisory bodies. These include the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Nasal Decolonization's Broadening Application: Replacing Contact Precautions
March 10th 2018An increase in prevalence in healthcare settings across the continuum of care over several decades has resulted in MRSA and other multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) being given priority as targets of reduction efforts by several regulatory and advisory bodies. These include the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Handling Clean Linen in a Healthcare Environment
October 1st 2017Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification demonstrates linen and uniform services companies’ commitment to cleanliness through independent, third-party laundry inspection and quantified microbial testing. Inspection and re-inspection verify that items are maintained, washed, dried, ironed, packed, transported and delivered using best management practices (BMPs) to meet key disinfection criteria. Between scheduled and supplemental inspections, ongoing microbial testing quantifies cleanliness and indicates laundry process adjustments. Certification requirements are based on international standards for processing healthcare linens and garments.
The Use of a Triple-Emitter, UV-C Energy Disinfection System to Reduce CAUTI and CLABSI Rates
August 17th 2017According to the CDC, roughly one in every 25 hospitalized patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection (HAI).1 HAIs create significant health risks and cost the healthcare industry billions of dollars each year.
Hand Hygiene: A Guidebook Exploring a Key Foundation of Infection Prevention and Control
May 25th 2017Whether it's soap-and-water handwashing or using an antiseptic hand wash, an alcohol-based handrub (ABHR), or a surgical hand antisepsis product, hand hygiene remains a cornerstone of infection prevention and control practice. Despite indications that hand hygiene can help control the transmission of infectious microorganisms as part of a multi-modal approach, as well as innovations in product and dispenser design to enhance the user experience, hand hygiene rates remain sub-optimally low.