HAIs

November 12, 2020

Michael Millenson: “When you dig a little deeper, you end up though with some questions. We’re a big country, and this is an enormous crisis. Well, $180 million? You can barely buy a couple of US senators with that.”

November 12, 2020

If you are an infection preventionist and are not currently involved in product review, now may be a great time to reach out to your supply chain team to explain the perspective you can bring to the table and ask to be involved.

November 11, 2020

New infection preventionists can use this checklist to perform IP rounds in the surgical suite, decontamination areas, and sterile processing area.

November 11, 2020

Candida auris is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods. It can be misidentified in labs without specific technology, which can lead to mismanagement.

November 04, 2020

The odds of a viral outbreak such as SARS-CoV-2 in custodial settings, such as prisons and juvenile detention centers, are high. But video surveillance already in place in the facilities can enhance contact tracing.

October 29, 2020

Michael Bell, MD: “The challenge that infection control professionals face has grown tremendously. We’re asking these individuals to not only be experts, but also to take responsibility for such a wide range of activities ... and finding ways to help them accomplish what they’re doing across the whole population of healthcare personnel is the rationale behind Project Firstline.”

October 28, 2020

Discussions about hospitalizations should include those of healthcare personnel who have been hospitalized with COVID-19. This is something that has been a gap in our data but increasingly discussed.

October 23, 2020

Too many hospitals apparently do not use the CDC’s Hospital Toolkit for Adult Sepsis Surveillance, which may explain the number of healthcare-acquired infections that remain unreported.

October 22, 2020

When healthcare workers using the red box stepped into the patients’ rooms, there was “significantly increased non-compliance” with PPE and hand hygiene protocols compared to those healthcare workers who went into rooms without red boxes.

October 22, 2020

Investigators found that the mean healthcare cost for treating elderly influenza patients per patient per flu season ranged from $3,299 to $12,398 higher than the costs for treating patients with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease, and stage 5 renal disease.