Nurses At The Frontline of Hand Hygiene

Hospitals are always looking for ways to improve hand hygiene at their facility, given both the financial incentive of avoiding fines and patient safety concerns. The Mayo Clinic in Florida expanded the role of nurses in hand-hygiene compliance, making them the frontline advocates and “watchdogs” of hand hygiene.

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Joint Commission and CDC Team Up on Ambulatory Infection Prevention

The Joint Commission and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are working on a new initiative to improve infection control in ambulatory care settings. The Adaptation and Dissemination Outpatient Infection PrevenTion (ADOPT) project will promote existing CDC infection prevention (IP) guidance while also making updated and alterations.

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The Six C’s of CAUTI Prevention

Staff-driven bundles, judicious culturing lead to huge CAUTI decreases. As hospitals prepare for more rigorous Joint Commission standard, Mayo Clinic shows how regimented approach can reduce rates by as much as 70%. In early 2014, the medical intensive care unit at the Mayo Clinic Hospital contributed 25% of the facility’s catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI). … Continued

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Perioperative Pressure Injuries: Protocols and Evidence-Based Programs for Reducing Risk

By Susan M. Scott, BSN, MSN, RN, WOC Over the past five years, the incidence of perioperative hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI) has increased (Chen, Chen, & Wu, 2012), causing patients pain and suffering and costing the U.S. healthcare system $11 billion per year (Brem et al., 2010). Pressure injuries (previously referred to as pressure ulcers) … Continued

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Using Analytics to Combat Sepsis

By Paula Brown  The pattern is clear: One of the biggest risks to patient safety in hospitals, skilled nursing, and other medical facilities is sepsis. Every year, 750,000 Americans are diagnosed with the condition, leading to complications such as renal failure and cognitive decline; of that number, 220,000 will die (Scutti, 2014). According to the … Continued

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CMS Proposes Making Antibiotic Stewardship Programs Mandatory

Last week, CMS published a list of proposed rule changes for hospitals and laboratories. One of the more notable proposals would make antibiotic stewardship programs (ASP) mandatory. ASPs are considered a way to prevent antibiotic misuse and the spread of drug-resistant disease.

“We propose to change the introductory paragraph (in Infection Control Condition of Participation §482.42) to require that a hospital’s infection prevention and control of antibiotic stewardship programs be active and hospital wide for the surveillance, prevention, and control of HAIs and other infectious diseases, and for the optimization of antibiotic use through stewardship,” according to the proposed rule.

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