Patients placed in contact isolation for MRSA or other drug-resistant infections are less likely to receive all of the required process-of-care quality steps for pneumonia treatment, researchers https://www.google.com/found.(1) The study looked at the relationship between contact isolation and adherence to…
Sorry for the technical problems and various glitches, but we appear able to blog again and blog we shall. Whether this is perception or reality, we’ll find out shortly. Having stopped the leaks, so to speak, we look to history…
One would think intuitively that being placed in isolation behind the various barriers of precautions – gloves, gowns, masks – could have a disassociating affect, exacting a mental toll on the patient. In some patients it appears isolation contributes to…
As part of its mandatory flu vaccination policy, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology recommends that health care workers that cannot be immunized should wear a surgical mask when caring for patients or working with susceptible staff….
The Joint Commission’s new National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) on preventing indwelling catheter-associated urinary tract infections — which emphasizes prompt removal of unnecessary devices and surveillance for CAUTIs — is effective January 1, 2012 for hospitals. Though there has been…
A staggering succession of hepatitis outbreaks has steeled the general perception that infection prevention programs in ambulatory care settings leave a lot to be desired. Inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) confirm these fears, even as the…
“Thus, though the plague had ended, we continued to live by its standards.” Albert Camus, The Plague. From time to time since the launch of this blog I have been asked about the presence in our HICprevent masthead of…
Though conceding that powdered latex gloves pose little risk of causing patient infections, the nation’s largest infection prevention group is joining the chorus of those urging the Food and Drug Administration to ban the gloves i n favor of…
A consumer advocacy group is targeting one of the longstanding tools of infection prevention, saying latex gloves should be banned due to the risk of life-threatening allergic reactions in health care workers and patients. In an April 25th petition to…
Public health officials and clinicians continue an unrelenting focus on a deadly infection that appears to be almost completely preventable: catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI). The latest initiative comes in the form of new and updated guidelines by the Centers for…