The Infection Control Today® vascular access page offers the latest insights from vascular access teams in the field, and covers the latest updates on the methods to keep central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and other infections down to a minimum.
March 7th 2024
Infection Control Today's® Product Locator is a column that highlights the latest advanced technology in infection prevention.
Medical Crossfire®: Maximizing Patient Outcomes in Shingles – Are You Leveraging Guideline Based Care?
View More
Understanding RSV: What You Need to Know to Prevent and Treat Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Your Patients
View More
Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Understanding the Infection Burden and Anticipating the Impact of Vaccines
View More
Medical Crossfire®: Which Patients with Hematologic Malignancies are at Risk for Secondary Immunodeficiency (SID)… and How Can We Leverage Evidence to Improve Their Outcomes?
View More
Patient, Provider, and Caregiver Connection™: Prevention and Control of Meningococcal Disease — Individualizing Vaccine Recommendations in Adolescent Populations
View More
Needleless Connectors and the Improvement of Patient and Healthcare Professional Safety
December 9th 2013When it comes to improving patient and healthcare safety, many factors are considered: time to treatment, antimicrobials and increased reporting standards to name a few. However, a small device the needleless connector for intravenous systems can have a big impact, particularly on protecting healthcare workers from needlestick injuries and in reducing bacterial contamination. There are numerous options for these devices, and there may be confusion on current guidelines, as well as protocols for appropriate disinfection and use. With all the variables and increasing time constraints, how can healthcare professionals such as critical care nurses and infection preventionists improve patient care and safety, as well as protect themselves? By understanding the differences between the device options, healthcare professionals can more easily tailor their patient care, improve adherence to clinical best practice and ensure their safety.
Infusion-Related Infection Prevention: Ignoring Little Details Can Lead to Big Problems
May 16th 2013Nancy Delisio, RN, had a frightening phone call from a nurse who was trying to insert a PICC line. The line wasnt threading correctly, so she was calling us, says Delisio, a nurse educator with the Infusion Nurses Society (INS). What was she doing inserting the line, and where was her supervisor or another (trained clinician) to help her? That question illustrates a common theme among many calls INS receives. Bedside nurses dont know the basics something that needs to be taught from the top down. It leads me to believe that maybe staff nurses have heard about a procedure or protocol, but theyve never received appropriate training. Its the small things that lead to problems, Delisio says.