Amanda Heitman, BSN, RN, CNOR, a perioperative nurse with over 20 years' experience and member of Infection Control Today® Editorial Advisory Board, has dedicated her career to patient safety and surgical excellence. Learn more about her path to where she is now.
Despite being a well-known occupational hazard, sharps injuries continue to occur in health care facilities and are often underreported, underestimated, and inadequately addressed. A recent interview with sharps safety advocate Amanda Heitman, BSN, RN, CNOR, a perioperative educational consultant, reveals why change is overdue and what new tools and guidance can help.
The pandemic opened unexpected doors for infection preventionists, pushing their expertise beyond hospital walls into schools and communities where stopping infections at the source matters more than ever.
As seasonal viruses surge and recent outbreaks like measles highlight vulnerabilities, infection prevention experts are extending their reach into schools, recognizing that healthy classrooms are essential to healthy communities.
Environmental hygiene is about more than just shiny surfaces. At Exchange25, infection prevention experts urged the field to look deeper, rethink blame, and validate cleaning efforts across the entire care environment, not just EVS tasks.
Hospitals may rely on handwashing as a frontline defense against infection, but the very sinks meant to promote hygiene can harbor dangerous pathogens. At this year’s AHE Exchange Summit, microbiologist Mark Wiencek, PhD, T-CHEST, explores how biofilms in sink drains create a persistent threat to patient safety—and what infection prevention and EVS teams can do about it.
Dr Rebecca Crapanzano-Sigafoos explains how at this year’s APIC Annual Conference & Expo in Phoenix, leaders unveiled key initiatives poised to shape the future of infection prevention, including a new research network, an updated MegaSurvey, and a comprehensive guide to catheter-associated bloodstream infection prevention.
In this interview, completed shortly before the HSPA 2025 conference, as she prepared to take the helm as HSPA’s next president, Arlene Bush, CRCST, CER, CIS, SME, DSMD, CRMST, discusses humility, determination, and a bold vision to elevate sterile processing professionals and broaden the association’s impact.
At the 2025 HSPA conference, experts emphasized the vital role of detergents and enzymatic cleaners in reprocessing medical devices—highlighting how temperature, concentration, and technique directly impact cleaning performance in today’s increasingly complex surgical instrumentation.
A routine audit at Texas Children’s Hospital uncovered systemwide gaps in sterile processing, revealing deeper issues and reinforcing the critical role of education and equipment oversight.
A new study presented at the 2025 SHEA Spring Conference reveals that while infectious disease consults do influence hospitalists’ use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, the relationship is anything but straightforward—challenging assumptions in antimicrobial stewardship and offering new insights into prescribing behavior.
Sterile processing leaders need more than technical expertise—they require business, collaboration, and leadership skills to gain autonomy, improve outcomes, and elevate the role within health care.
Sterile processing expert Kevin Anderson urges perioperative nurses to deepen collaboration with SPD teams to enhance OR efficiency, reduce SSIs, and improve patient outcomes.
ICT interviews Damien Berg, VP of strategic initiatives, who promises HSPA education, outreach, and growth. It will empower sterile processing professionals through standards updates, networking, and renewed purpose in patient safety.
A multidisciplinary team tackled low compliance in preoperative bathing, showing that standardization—not product choice—drives surgical site infection prevention and patient safety outcomes.
Mass federal layoffs threaten infection prevention nationwide, with APIC president Carol McLay, DrPH, MPH, RN, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA, warning of disrupted public health infrastructure, rising HAIs, and a diminished infection control workforce.
A Portuguese hospital team significantly improved operating room cleanliness through targeted training, UV audits, and interdisciplinary collaboration, enhancing patient safety and infection prevention at AORN 2025.
Discover how innovative strategies in scheduling, staff engagement, and continuous learning transformed a hospital’s environmental services, enhancing efficiency, employee satisfaction, and patient care standards.
Learn how Cameron Memorial Community Hospital revamped waste management protocols through collaboration, signage, and team training, achieving efficiency, cost savings, and enhanced compliance in high-risk areas like ORs and EDs.
Cameron Memorial Community Hospital streamlined pharmaceutical waste management through signage, training, and collaboration, cutting waste nearly in half and saving costs while boosting staff competencies and accountability.
Cameron Memorial Community Hospital streamlined cleaning practices by consolidating products, saving costs, empowering staff, and ensuring infection control. Collaborative efforts fostered efficiency, safety, and improved staff engagement.
Discover how reducing hand hygiene observations from 200 to 50 per unit monthly can optimize infection preventionists' time, enhance safety culture, and improve patient outcomes.
According to new research, genomic surveillance is transforming health care-associated infection detection by identifying outbreaks earlier, enabling faster interventions, improving patient outcomes, and reducing costs.
In an ICT® interview, Dr. Hudson Garrett emphasized double-gloving in infection control as crucial for protecting health care workers and patients, especially in high-risk environments.
Advanced photohydrolysis technology offers continuous disinfection, combating hospital-acquired infections and antimicrobial resistance. Safe and cost-effective, it significantly reduces health care-associated infections.
Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today®’s highlights for the week ending July 20, 2024.
A study at the 2024 APIC conference observed MRSA and Pseudomonas contamination in a new children's outpatient pulmonary clinic during construction and after patient use, highlighting significant infection risks.
Andrea Flinchum, 2024 president of Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology, INC (CBIC) explains the AL-CIP Certification at APIC Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Discover strategies for advocating infection prevention programs to the C-suite, ensuring resources, leadership support, and impactful outcomes.
Matthew Pullen, MD, explains rare infectious diseases, including Nipah, Scarlet Fever, Blastomycosis, and Dengue, that should be on the radar of every healthcare worker despite their rarity in the US.
