One of the Joint Commission’s 2013 patient safety goals calls for hospitals to implement “evidence-based practices to prevent central line–associated bloodstream infections. This requirement covers short- and long-term central venous catheters and peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) lines.” A good…
Hospitals that have reduced tuberculosis screening for health care workers should remain vigilant for disease introductions and take heed of the following cautionary tale. In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines that advised health care facilities…
At a recent meeting on that problematic nasty pathogen Clostridium difficile, the dramatic reductions of C. diff infections by hospitals in the United Kingdom cast something of a pall over the proceedings. While U.S. epidemiologists pointed to slides to take…
The dramatic reduction of Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) in hospitals in the United Kingdom is putting considerable pressure on American infection preventionists and health care epidemiologists to follow suit with similar success. Yet despite increasing infection prevention efforts in many…
In light of recent media reports of more workers being fired for refusing to be vaccinated against influenza, I recalled the rather no-nonsense view of veteran vaccine science advocate Paul Offit, MD, chief of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital…
Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) dropped by 52% when an alcohol-impregnated disinfection cap was used instead of standard scrubbing protocol, according to a new study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication…
We stray off our typical infection prevention topics today to discuss an outbreak of another kind – one hospitals are certainly not immune to – gun violence and mass shootings. The day after the horrific Dec. 14, 2012 shootings at…
The silos that separate patient safety and worker safety are coming down. Preventing medical errors and protecting health care workers are part of the same continuum, The Joint Commission accrediting body asserts in a new monograph. For employee health professionals,…
An intervention model called the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) is dramatically reducing central line infections and can be used to prevent other threats to patient safety, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports. In data released at…
This influenza immunization season may be one of the most challenging for the nation’s hospitals as they face a new requirement to track every employee, licensed practitioner, student and volunteer. Beginning in January 2013, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid…