Prevention

If the policies are not consistently updated, they are “just a piece of paper shoved in a logbook that is not going to effectively improve reprocessing…of ultrasound probes,” said Lisa Waldowski, DNP, RN, CIC.

Eye devices often are not cleaned nor sterilized as they should be according to manufacturer’s instructions for use, which leads to poorer patient outcomes.

This recommendation comes at an critical time as this flu season is feared to be a rebound after the low numbers the last few years due to COVID-19 precautions.

Infection preventionists should take an active role supporting ambulatory partners to help them follow infection prevention and control practices.

Investigators look for and find MRSA and C difficil widespread on floors, especially in patient rooms, and MRSA inside NICU isolette beds.

Recently, investigators studied the correlation between antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance using the J-SIPHE system. The results suggest that using the system may be beneficial for promoting antibiotic resistance measures antimicrobial stewardship implementation.

An IP can use their expertise to make decisions that will lead to cost savings and improved design flow.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending June 17.

Disinformation is continuing, even in the face of staggering evidence that COVID-19 is an ongoing dangerous pandemic.

The encouraging method used in the facility to raise the percentages was the answer to creating a positive response from the team.

Collaboration of a team from Inova Health with La Forma Medical developed an isolation gown that was cooler, better fitting, and more environmentally-friendly than disposables.

One key opinion leader speaks of infection prevention challenges with prone patients and benefits of centralized surveillance systems in 2 separate presentations at the APIC 2022 annual conference.

“Of all the SSIs we culled over that 3 years, about 42% of them required a wound class change by an infection preventionist,” Emily Grohs, MPH, CIC, tells ICT®.

The infection preventionist’s role extends far beyond simply surveillance activities and into an integrated member of design and operations.

The bioburden disparities among the various locations sampled could mean HCWs are not practicing proper hand hygiene before using or moving WOWs. It could also reflect the number of touches or a discrepancy in cleaning methods.

Health care worker hand hygiene compliance ticked up during COVID, but levels remain low nationwide. A 3-hospital network in Illinois wanted to know why.

The IP’s role in vaccine compliance has traditionally centered on influenza shots, but that all changed with SARS-CoV-2.

Trained observers at a pediatric hospital in south Texas relied on the app for hand hygiene observation collections between June 18 and November 30, 2021, and logged a 140% increase in observations collected.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending June 10.

Despite the emphasis on more improved infection prevention practices, stethoscope hygiene continually falls short, possibly leading to more health care-acquired infections.

From language barriers to lack of equipment, environmental hygiene is suffering throughout the world.

Respiratory syncytial virus does have a monoclonal antibody; however, the cost limits the distribution to the highest income countries, and a more cost-effective preventative strategy is needed.

Over 50 health care facilities from 35 countries participated from both higher and lower income settings.

With more confirmed cases in the United States, and the CDC raising the travel alert to Level 2, should individuals be concerned? ICT investigates.

Biosafety risks for patients with SARS-CoV-2 may be overlooked, and some control measures may bring about cross-contamination of the tests being done and cause biosafety accidents.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending June 3.

AMR and surgical site infections are a consistent issue for surgeries, and often surgeons feel they have done everything they can to reduce the risk, and yet the event still occurs with an alarming frequency. Is there anything novel that can be done? ICT® tries to find out.

Adding to their exhaustion because of other diseases rampant worldwide, like influenza and COVID-19, infection preventionists need to understand and recognize the basics of monkeypox as well since it has made its debut in the US.

Certain blood types in combination with Rh, race (Black patients and White patients), and pregnant or not pregnant demonstrated protection against the virus.

Infection preventionists and the equipment and cleansers they use gained a spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic. These include both established and innovative materials.