Study: Most Healthcare Workers Ignore Policy, Work While Ill
Researchers conducted active surveillance at a 120-bed long-term care facility from December 2015 to April 2016 looking for respiratory viral infections among residents and healthcare providers.
Study: Use of High-Risk Antibiotics Leads to Increase in C. difficile Infections
For every 100 days of facility-wide antibiotic therapy using one of these high-risk antibiotics, researchers found a 12% increase in hospital-associated C. diff infection. However, further analysis found that only cephalosporins were significantly correlated with hospital-associated C. diff.
FMH Reduces Sepsis Mortality by 65 Percent with MEDITECH
By: Debra O’Connell and Lauren Small US hospitals are challenged by evolving, and often disparate, sepsis guidelines, including the Surviving Sepsis Campaign, CMS SEP-1 Core Measure, and The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3). Recognizing the need for a comprehensive approach to sepsis care, Frederick Memorial Hospital designed a three-pronged strategy … Continued
Improve Your Hand Hygiene Compliance Rates: Three Insights From the University of Tennessee Medical Center
Without reliable data, it’s impossible to determine the best path toward improving compliance. To reach compliance goals of 90% or higher, systems need to measure 100% of all hand hygiene events.
FDA: Use Duodenoscopes With Disposable Parts to Prevent Infections
Disposable designs simplify or eliminate the need for reprocessing, which may reduce between-patient duodenoscope contamination as compared to reusable, or fixed endcap, scopes.
Study Finds Major Problems With PPE Doffing
According to a report published in May 2019 in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, a journal from The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, researchers found that more than a third (39%) of the 125 healthcare workers observed acquired a multidrug-resistant organism during a patient encounter.
Senator Reintroduces Bill to Fight Spread of Superbugs
The bill targets the misuse and overprescribing of antibiotics, which has led to resistant bacteria and a shortage of effective antibiotics.
7-Part EMS Screening Tool Boosts Early Sepsis Treatment
On an annual basis, sepsis affects about 1.7 million American adults and the infection is linked to more than 250,000 deaths. Timely application of the 3-hour bundle has been associated with reduced mortality.
Multiple Injection Safety Violations Led to NJ Outbreak
Investigators found 41 patients with osteoarthritis contracted the rare infection following injections in their knee joints, with 33 requiring surgery to remove damaged tissue. The investigation found practices including lack of hand washing to inappropriate reuse of medication vials.
Preventing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections in Adult ICUs: A Three-Pronged Approach
Based on the severity and urgency of preventing CAUTIs, the University of Rochester Medical Center coordinated a project team to collect and analyze CAUTI data and further identify prevention techniques in adult ICUs.