Insights on Infection Control

Screening for C. difficile Upon Admission

2013-04-30T16:45:00Z

Wouldn't it be great if you could stop the spread of C. difficile at the front door? Since carriers can be asymptomatic it can be challenging to initiate the correct precautions without first identifying carriers. A new study attempted to identify whether carriers could actually be identified at the door - upon admission. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., identified independent predictors of C. difficile colonization to be recent hospitalization, chronic dialysis and corticosteroid...(read more)

Hand Hygien & the Soap vs. ABHR Debate

2013-04-26T00:56:00Z

On Tuesday, I led a workshop with 50 healthcare workers from 4 different facilities. There were nurses, attendants, transporters, environmental services workers and infection preventionists. They came from critical care units, nurseries, clinics and med surg units. The workshop was aimed at reducing healthcare acquired infections via cleaning equipment - both stationary and rolling stock. The second focus was on hand hygiene. I was trying to make the point that alcohol base hand rubs (ABHR) have...(read more)

Safe Hospitals Include Infection Prevention

2013-04-12T22:32:00Z

Since the median age of nurses in the United States is estimated to be 46 years, many of us are familiar with American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)-even if we are not members. This month's journal had an article titled The Top Hospitals for Safety. The article list 66 superstar hospitals across the country- both large and small - which have achieved super safe patient outcomes. They also give a reference to the Leap Frog Group to find other hospitals with an A rating (like the restaurant...(read more)

CRE: The Nightmare Bacteria

2013-03-28T20:06:00Z

Linda had a great yet possibly scary post on March 7 about resistant gram-negative bacteria. The post referred to the organisms as super bugs, although the technical term is CRE. It referenced the likelihood that once people are colonized with these organisms they may have them for several months. This clearly creates a problem for patients who are frequent fliers in the healthcare system. If you have not cared for a patient with this organism, you should expect to soon- these organisms have been...(read more)

Providing Healthcare & Handiwork in Haiti

2013-03-25T15:57:00Z

Today, John Haberstock and I headed to Dufort, Haiti, to work with the two volunteer doctors from the United States and Dr. Louie, the Haitian clinician who works with Heart to Heart. We drove to the clinic through an area that looked like a jungle with lush vegetation on roads that were really just a dirt path. The Welch Allyn team worked with the two volunteer doctors from the United States and Dr. Louie, the Haitian clinician. There were mango and papaya trees along the way, as well as goats,...(read more)

Progress in Haiti Healthcare

2013-03-25T13:50:00Z

Today we worked at a clinic in Bel Air, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince, which is close to the former palace. I was struck by the progress and poverty in the region. First the progress: When I first came to Haiti in January 2010, one month after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that affected an estimated 3 million people and killed 220,000 more, and then my second trip here one year later in February 2011, the area looked as though it was a war zone. So many homes and government buildings,...(read more)

Building a Future of Healthcare in Haiti

2013-03-21T12:11:00Z

The Welch Allyn crew had another full day in Léogâne. We split up and my colleague from Beaverton, Ore., Carolyn Pace, came with me to the clinic in Place d'or, which means, "The place of gold." We set up inside a partially completed church with two American doctors and one Haitian clinician. As I have always experienced, the Haitians are very grateful, humble and appreciative of the care we can provide. Welch Allyn employees set up a clinic in Place d’or, Haiti, inside a partially completed church...(read more)

Providing Care in Haiti to More Than 60 Patients in One Day

2013-03-20T21:12:00Z

Our team in Léogâne consists of 10 amazing people who, despite not having any hot running water and sharing only one bathroom, continue to give all they can to help the Haitian people. Jim Colvin and some other members of our group are helping to finish construction of a new healthcare clinic being built to serve rural area-Léogâne. They are painting, putting in the ceiling and varnishing that building. Some families bought chickens and fruit trees after the quake so they would have essentials in...(read more)

Welch Allyn Employees Return to Haiti

2013-03-19T19:42:00Z

When I arrived in Haiti on Sunday (March 17, 2013), I began to think about the experience I had when I was here a few years ago , one month after the earthquake. There was total devastation and destruction in a country that had already suffered many blows from poverty, war, corruption and natural disasters. Since my last trip, the airport has been transformed into a modern facility. And, as I've said in the past, being in Haiti right after the quake, which killed so many, and having the opportunity...(read more)

Facemasks for All to Prevent the Spread of Infection

2013-03-15T16:38:00Z

Who was that masked man?! Maybe just someone hoping not to get sick. Within the healthcare system, employees, and sometimes visitors, wear facemasks if they will encounter someone who is highly contagious with a serious airborne illness. This is a proven way to avoid the spread of infection to healthcare employees. But there are a lot of contagious people outside of the healthcare system. Should the general public take the same precautions? In a January 2013 article in The Journal of Infectious Diseases...(read more)

Surveys Indicate Concern About Infection

2013-03-12T15:04:00Z

Two surveys released recently, one from APIC and one conducted at AORN, illustrate the need for more effort to reduce the risk of infection in various settings. C. Diff Prevention Efforts Not Enough According to a nationwide survey of infection preventionists released from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology ( APIC ), 70% of infection preventionists have adopted additional interventions in their healthcare facilities to address C. difficile infection (CDI) since...(read more)

How Can We Reduce Risks & Improve Patient Safety?

2013-03-08T14:24:00Z

While on vacation last week, our hotel served a buffet style breakfast. My husband usually shies away from these buffets because he doesn't trust all the people poking around his food. But the hotel put a safeguard in place. One of the waiters was stationed so he could see the entire food line. In fact, a teenager dropped a serving spoon on the floor and simply replaced it back by the fruit platter. The waiter quickly removed the contaminated spoon and replaced it - no one was the wiser. We do procedures...(read more)

Superbug CRE May Endure in Patients One Year After Initial Infection

2013-03-07T14:21:00Z

Patients who tested positive for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) took an average of 387 days following hospital discharge to be clear of the organism, according to a new study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Infection Control , the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology ( APIC ). The study was conducted in the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, a 700-bed university-affiliated general hospital in Jerusalem, Israel....(read more)

Infection Preventionists Not Benefiting From Health Information Exchanges

2013-02-22T14:59:00Z

Anyone in healthcare is aware of recent initiatives from CMS and CDC to increase the use of medical health records (and use the data) and to decrease infections. And one would image you could use the former to achieve the latter. But a new study from Regenstrief Institute finds that's not being done. "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are encouraging local and state health departments to use health information technologies to improve infectious disease reporting and prevention activities....(read more)

Salmonellae-Peanut Butter Report Issued

2013-02-19T13:47:00Z

The Food and Drug Administration along with the CDC recently finalized their report on an outbreak of Salmonella linked to peanut butter - of all things! The outbreak began in September 2011 and eventually involved 42 people in 20 states both on the East and West coasts. Salmonellae typically causes fever, diarrhea and abdominal pain. While most people recover completely without any treatment, the very old and the very young are at increased risk for sever illness, dehydration and hospitalization....(read more)