Infection Control Today Magazine

Policies and Practice

Slide Show: Social Media Survey of Infection Preventionists

We present results from a survey of infection preventionists regarding their social media and Internet use. ...More
December 10, 2012
Posted in Galleries, Policies and Practice
Social Media Yields Benefits, Poses Challenges for Healthcare Organizations

With social media no longer in its infancy, healthcare organizations are learning to embrace this dynamic way to reach the patients in the communities they serve. A recent study of 1,229 U.S. hospitals by Healthcare IT News found that 814 had Twitter accounts and 1,068 had ...More
December 10, 2012
Posted in Articles, Policies and Practice
Ground-Breaking Workplace Safety Benefit Designed to Protect Nurses from Needlesticks, Violence

Registered nurses at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, Calif. have approved a new agreement that most notably includes a precedent-setting needlestick and workplace violence insurance benefit funded by the employer, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United ...More
December 7, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
New Patient Safety Improvement Toolkit Builds on Clinical Best Practices, Science of Safety

Hospitals taking part in a national project funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently reported some exciting results: Rates of potentially deadly central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) had dropped by 40 percent. ...More
December 7, 2012
Posted in Articles, Policies and Practice
FDA to Hold Public Hearing on Antiseptic Patient Preoperative Skin Preparation Products

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is holding a public hearing Dec. 12-13, 2012 to obtain input on how to address microbial contamination of patient preoperative skin preparation drug products. Currently, patient preoperative skin preparations are not required to be ...More
December 6, 2012
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene, Policies and Practice, PPE & Standard Precautions
National Awards to Recognize Best Practices in Reducing or Eliminating HAIs

Teams of critical care professionals and healthcare institutions with a record of reducing or eliminating healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are encouraged to submit their best practices to a national awards program. In the third year of this three-year initiative, the ...More
December 5, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
Joint Commission Publishes Patient and Worker Safety Monograph

The Joint Commission has released a free monograph, “Improving Patient and Worker Safety: Opportunities for Synergy, Collaboration and Innovation,” to draw attention to the need to create a culture that focuses on both the safety of patients and the healthcare workers who ...More
November 20, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice
AAMI Updates Healthcare Gown and Drape Quality Standard

While absolute perfection in manufacturing can be difficult to come by, efforts are being made by healthcare-product manufacturers to ensure that the impervious gowns and surgical drapes that healthcare workers count on are indeed providing the anticipated level of barrier ...More
November 19, 2012
Posted in Articles, Policies and Practice, PPE & Standard Precautions
Slide Show: Sequestration and Public Health

As Congress debates strategies to avoid the fiscal cliff, we look at the impact that sequestration would have on public health and infectious disease control and prevention. ...More
November 19, 2012
Posted in Galleries, Policies and Practice
Sequestration Could Cripple U.S. Public Health

Under the Budget Control Act, most Federal programs face an across-the-board cut in January 2013 if Congress does not enact a plan before then to reduce the national debt by $1.2 trillion. This inaction, and the resulting sequestration, has serious consequences for public ...More
November 16, 2012
Posted in News, Policies and Practice