Two Former Olean General Hospital Nurses Recognized by APIC

Susan (Timme) Dolan, RN, MS, CIC, and Linda (Ruth) Greene, RN, MPS, CIC, former employees of Olean General Hospital, are among the 2006 Heroes of Infection Prevention named by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and Tyco Healthcare/Kendall.

The “Heroes” program recognizes APIC members who are contributing significantly to the reduction of infection and who are impacting the health, safety and well-being of patients, healthcare workers and the public.

Dolan is being recognized for detecting bacterial contamination of a widely used nasal spray that led to a national recall. This effort helped insure the safety of thousands of patients. Dolan also played a major political role in helping the Colorado legislature draft a proposal for mandatory reporting of healthcare-associated infections, including an oversight committee comprised of infection prevention and control representatives. This legislation has become a model for other state legislative efforts.

Greene is being recognized for initiating several far-reaching patient safety programs at Rochester GeneralHospital, her current employer. Two years ago, Greene led a team of professionals to reduce bacteria associated with central venous catheters (CVC) in the facility’s intensive care unit and expanded the program to the entire organization. CVC “bacteremia” can prolong hospitalization, increase healthcare costs and lead to death. Within three months, death attributed to CVC bacteremia decreased from 4 percent to zero. Two years later, the overall bacteremia rate decreased 72 percent.

Greene’s work garnered Rochester General Hospital, the Hospital Association of New York State’s 2005 Pinnacle award for quality.

Dolan is currently employed as the hospital epidemiologist at The Children’s' Hospital in Denver, where she manages the infection prevention and control program. Dolan worked at Olean GeneralHospital from 1979 to 1986 as a staff nurse and the majority of her work took place on the Dermitt (pediatric) unit where she was the evening charge nurse. Dolan received her master’s degree in Pediatric Nursing from the University of Rochester.

Greene is the manager of infection control and prevention at Rochester GeneralHospital in Rochester, N.Y., where she has been employed for the past 10 years. She worked at Olean GeneralHospital from 1972 to 1995 where she held the positions of staff nursing supervisor and director of hospital quality and infection control.

 “APIC congratulates Susan and Linda for long and distinguished careers in infection prevention and control,” says Kathleen Arias, MS, CIC, president of APIC. “This program has become an annual endeavor to bring attention to the important role of infection prevention in saving lives and reducing the cost of care.”

Source: APIC