The Infection Control Today® chronic and long-term care facilities page provides news, updates, and guidance on tackling infection prevention in these unique environments, including nursing homes, skilled nursing centers, and assisted-living facilities. This page includes news on cleaning, disinfection, antibiotic stewardship, hand hygiene, isolation precautions, outbreak protocol, and more as administrators and infection prevention teams seek to curb outbreaks of pneumonia, influenza, Clostridioides difficile, urinary tract infections, and skin and soft tissue infections, among others.
February 6th 2025
Fungal infections are a rising global threat, with antifungal resistance complicating treatment. Neil J. Clancy, MD, emphasizes the urgent need for research, better diagnostics, and stronger infection prevention strategies.
Lily, NIAID Launch Phase 3 Prevention Trial Centered on Nursing Homes
August 3rd 2020Despite a clear record of violations across the country, amid a culture where sick staff were asked to show up for work, lawmakers in several states have also potentially disincentivized improvement of infection control standards in long-term care facilities by providing legal liability protections ahead of time.
COVID-19 Reveals Fatal Infection Prevention Flaws at Long-Term Care Facilities
June 2nd 2020Many healthcare facilities, not only LTCFs, have turned to online training for staff and then designate the employee as competent to do their job. Online training does not prove competency; it provides training.
IC in Care Series: Long-Term Care
June 2nd 2017With the U.S. healthcare reform mandate for increasing transparency and improved quality, the need for infection prevention and control in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) is becoming more critical than ever before for the more than 3 million Americans receiving geriatric care in U.S. annually. Consider these facts regarding infection in long-term care: • An estimated 1.6 million to 3.8 million infections occur in long-term care facilities each year. • More than 1.5 million people live in 16,000 nursing homes in the United States. Estimates suggest infections could result in as many as 380,000 deaths among those residents each year. • The nursing home population is expected to increase to about 5.3 million people by 2030.
OPTIMISTIC Study Shows Unique Nurse Practitioner Role Leads to Safer Care in Nursing Homes
October 24th 2016Transfers of nursing home residents to and from the hospital frequently expose these frail, older adults to medication errors and poor follow-up care resulting in near or serious harm to 1 in 4 nationwide.