Infection Control Today Magazine

Patient Safety

Making Sense of Evidence-Based Practices

If ever there was a buzzword in healthcare currently, it might just be “evidence-based practices.” But does the average healthcare worker understand the term’s purpose and significance? Ward (2000) notes, “Evidence-based practice is seen as a way of ...More
January 29, 2009
Posted in Articles
Sandel Gives Medical Center a Colorful Patient Safety Solution

CHATSWORTH, Calif. -- Sandel Medical Industries, LLC, a leader in patient safety, has provided a colorful assist to the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital’s efforts to improve safety conditions in the operating room.Patients, surgeons, nurses are all ...More
January 21, 2009
Posted in News
Ohio Business and Healthcare Leaders Partner to Improve Patient Safety

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the first time in Ohio’s history, business leaders and healthcare providers are teaming up in a statewide effort to make Ohio the safest place in the nation for healthcare. The Cardinal Health Foundation, the Ohio Business Roundtable, the ...More
January 15, 2009
Posted in News
Little Progress Made in Patient Safety Despite IOM’s Call to Action

Despite increased emphasis on patient safety, little progress has been made in making hospitals safer, says Johns Hopkins critical care specialist Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD, in an article in the Dec. 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.He identifies ...More
December 29, 2008
Posted in News
People-Based Patient Safety: A New Approach to Eliminating Medical Errors

Coastal Training Technologies’ People-Based Patient Safety® program provides the newest training paradigm for the healthcare industry. The goal remains the same – preventing medical errors – with an estimated 98,000 American patients dying as a result ...More
December 16, 2008
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
Nearly All U.S. Hospitals Have Adverse Event Reporting Systems

More than 94 percent of U.S. hospitals have centralized systems for collecting reports of adverse events, but only 21 percent fully distribute and consider adverse event summary reports, according to a study funded by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and ...More
December 10, 2008
Posted in News
Pressure Ulcers Increasing Among Hospital Patients

Hospitalizations involving patients with pressure ulcers– either developed before or after admission – increased by nearly 80 percent between 1993 and 2006, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Pressure ...More
December 10, 2008
Posted in News
Handwashing Policies in Place but Monitoring Hand Hygiene Remains a Challenge

According to a new analysis from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), 99 percent of the 103 Ontario hospitals participating in a 2008 patient safety survey reported that they had a formal hand hygiene policy in place, and just more than one-third of these ...More
October 30, 2008
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
Canadian Patients Tested for Infection Caused by Reused Syringes

The Canadian Press is reporting today that as many as 2,700 former patients of the High Prairie Health Complex in High Prairie, Alberta, Canada, may need to be tested for infection after health officials uncovered the reuse of syringes to administer medication through IVs. ...More
October 27, 2008
Posted in News, PPE & Standard Precautions
IHI 5 Million Lives Campaign Enrollment Reaches 4,030 Hospitals

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) announced today the progress of the organizations enrolled in the 5 Million Lives Campaign, a national effort to help U.S. hospitals dramatically reduce incidents of avoidable medical harm. The Campaign asks hospitals to ...More
October 23, 2008
Posted in News