This week's coverage in Infection Control Today centered on a common thread: the systems, partnerships, and data that let infection prevention teams catch problems before patients are harmed.
|Articles|April 29, 2023
Weekly Rounds: SPD Staffing Crisis, Inside Track: Hand Hygiene, and More
Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today®’s highlights for the week ending April 30, 2023.
Advertisement
Here are 5 highlights from Infection Control Today®'s (ICT®’s) wide-ranging coverage of the infection prevention and control world. Everything from interviews with known opinion leaders to the news that infection preventionists and other health care professionals can use on their jobs.
Hospital Safety Climate and Organizational Characteristics Predict HAIs and Occupational Health Outcomes According to Study
Findings provide the first published evidence of the relationship between standard precaution adherence and the safety of health care workers and patients.
Preventing Increases in HAIs and Burnout During the COVID-19 Pandemic
A study published in AJIC describes how one health care system implanted an initiative by their IPs to prevent the health care-acquired infections when COVID-19 loomed over their work.
Inside Track With Infection Control Today: Hand Hygiene
Welcome to the Inside Track with Infection Control Today video series, an ongoing series of informational and how-to videos on infection control and prevention topics. This video is about hand washing (soap and water) and hand rubbing (alcohol-based hand rub).
Carbapenem-Resistant Infections: How Do Genetic Elements Affect Transmission?
In the infections the investigators examined, about 60% of the bacteria that cause these infections did have a carbapenemase gene. Did they find a mortality difference in those infections which did and didn’t?
Curing the Sterile Processing Department Staffing Crisis
What are the issues if sterile processing departments (SPDs) can't hire more qualified personnel?
Hot Topics in IPC: STI Antibiotic Plans, Marburg, COVID-19, and Medicine's Rat Problem
Saskia v. Popescu, PhD, MPH, MA, CIC, gives the latest on COVID-19, Marburg Virus Disease, and a 1-hit STI antibiotic plan.
Advertisement
Related to this article
What might infection prevention rounds miss when visible conditions dominate the conversation? Tommy Davis, PhD, CMIP, a member of ICT's executive advisory board, makes the case for structured observations of clinical workflows, shared accountability, and greater attention to environmental services staff’s insights.
Artist and designer Matthew Caliman shares how personal loss inspired the Cleanup Crew, a handwashing education project using cartoon faucets, songs, and games to help families revisit an essential health message.
How do you celebrate an infection that never happened?
That's one of the unusual challenges infection preventionists share with teachers.
Both can spend their careers changing outcomes they may never see. Both educate people who don't always want to listen. Both are second-guessed. Both face burnout. And both must somehow keep remembering why they started.
UPMC’s genomic surveillance initiative earned national recognition for patient safety. Alexander Sundermann, DrPH, CIC, FAPIC, AL-CIP, explains how the award could help infection preventionists secure leadership support and sustainable funding for earlier outbreak detection.
Knowing the protocol is only the beginning. In The Clean Bite, Sherrie Busby explores how explaining the why, addressing staff concerns, and creating clear procedures can help dental teams make infection control part of everyday practice.
A followed procedure can still leave patients at risk if it no longer matches validated requirements. Annetta L. McKnight, MHA, BSN, CRCST, CER, examines how infection prevention and sterile processing can identify process drift, assess disruptions, and strengthen shared oversight of medical device reprocessing.
What Were the Biggest Infection Prevention Stories This Week? Ebola's Outpaced Response, Lyme Coinfection Data, and Sterile Processing Burnout Explained, and more
Advertisement
Advertisement
Trending on Infection Control Today
1
UPMC’s Genomic Surveillance Award Opens the Door to Funding Conversations
2
Proposed AHRQ Cut Raises Questions About Infection Prevention Research and Support
3
Measles Took 5 Children in 8 Days. A Century Later, Their Story Still Matters
4
How Purposeful Infection Prevention Rounding Supports Patient Safety and EVS Collaboration
5