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Musing About Microbes Blog
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Nancy Haberstich is a registered nurse certified in infection prevention and control. She is self-employed as an international consultant, providing consultation to hospitals in Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and Brazil. Nancy served as the infection control coordinator in a 300-bed municipal hospital for 17 years and has served as technical advisor and scriptwriter for 13 training videotapes on a variety of infection prevention and control topics utilized by hospitals throughout the United States. She spent one year as a volunteer in Liberia, West Africa in 1999/2000 to reopen a school of nursing and paramedical training programs that had been destroyed by a decade of civil war. At the invitation of the Canadian Ministry of Health, Nancy consulted with one of the Toronto hospitals involved in the SARS crisis in 2003. She is the founder and owner of nanobugs, inc. |
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09/02/2010
Isolation: Fighting Infection but Alienating Patients?I encourage you to read and ponder a recent essay in The New York Times written by Abigail Zuger, MD, an infectious disease physician in Manhattan. In "Isolation, an Ancient and Lonely Practice, Endures," Zuger describes the ordeal that contact isolation has become in today's hospitals, as well as the social stigma it creates for patients. Acknowledging the need for isolation to help prevent ... |
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08/26/2010
Celebrating Our EducatorsThink back to when you were in school -- is there a teacher that stands out in your memory? Almost everyone seems to have fond memories of individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary talent and devotion to instruction, whether it's from kindergarten or from college. |
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08/17/2010
Discarding Data a Dastardly Deed, Consumer Advocates AssertBy now you may have heard that the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has purged infection data from hospital records dating from 2005 to 2008 because it believed this data was too expensive to maintain and, according to a report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "is too sensitive for the public to examine for more than a year." The newspaper quotes a number of consumer watchdogs ... |
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08/13/2010
Boosting Hand Hygiene ComplianceWhat is your healthcare institution doing to boost hand hygiene compliance? That's one of the lively topics under discussion in our ICTalk online forum. |
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08/12/2010
Health Board, Union Quarrel Over Hospital Cleaning Job CutsIt's always interesting to see what's happening in Europe when it comes to infection prevention and control, and I came across a situation that many American hospitals may be able to relate to – budget cuts that threaten a facility’s ability to uphold environmental hygiene. |
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08/05/2010
Room Turnover Times, Infection Control and HygieneEver wonder how your facility's room turnover times stack up against other institutions, especially relating to environmental hygiene and infection control? We invite you to join a conversation in progress on the ICTalk online forum to share your thoughts and experiences: http://forum.infectioncontroltoday.com/f17/room-cleaning-times-206/ In the meantime, here's a reminder from the Centers for ... |
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07/30/2010
Your Bed: It's a Jungle of Microscopic CrittersOf course we know that we serve as a host to billions of microorganisms inside and on our bodies. |