Ambulatory Care Nurses: Take A Stand Against Infections
Author – Linda Brixey, RN President of the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN) I am excited the CDC is continuing to develop additional tools and resources for infection control. As the president of the American Academy of Ambulatory …
Infection Prevention and Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
Author – Bret T. Petersen, MD, FASGE, Chairman, Quality Assurance in Endoscopy Committee, American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Reports of infections subsequent to gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy intermittently gain national media coverage….
Moving Toward Safer Outpatient Care: CDC Releases Guide for Preventing Infections
Author: Melissa Schaefer, MD Medical Officer in CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion As healthcare professionals, we must recognize our responsibility to protect patients – care should not provide any avenue for the transmission of infect…
HAI Tracking: The Accuracy Debate
With so much attention focused on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) – and particularly pressure at local, state, and national levels to drive infection rates down – how can we be sure HAIs are tracked accurately? CDC’s Dr. Arjun Srinivasan …
Norovirus Prevention in Healthcare Settings
Author: Taranisia MacCannell, PhD, MSc Epidemiologist in CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion Norovirus is a common cause of gastroenteritis, inflammation of the stomach and small and large intestines, that can include symptoms such as diar…
Hand Hygiene CAN Save a Patient’s Life
Author – Victoria Nahum Co-Founder and Director Safe Care Campaign (Atlanta, Georgia) My name is Victoria Nahum. Almost 5 years ago, my husband Armando and I learned the hardest lesson of our lives. We learned that losing our 27 year old son Joshua t…
Taking GRIME out of South Carolina
Author – Dixie Roberts, APRN, C, MPH Healthcare Associated Infections Coordinator South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control “He who doesn’t prevent grime when he can, encourages it” In 2007, with the knowledge that hand hygi…
Hand Hygiene: Back to Basics in Infection Prevention
Author – Kate Ellingson, Ph.D. CDC Epidemiologist CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotiona Hand hygiene is a simple practice that has been at the core of infection prevention for over 150 years. Yet getting healthcare personnel to follow rec…
No, it is not ok to reuse that syringe!
Author – Gina Pugliese, RN MS Vice President of the Safety Institute, Premier healthcare alliance It was 20 years ago when I first heard about syringes being reused on multiple patients, followed by a flurry of guidelines cautioning about the need to…
Preventing MRSA in healthcare – Is there a silver bullet? (Part 1 of 3)
Author: John Jernigan, M.D Director for CDC’s Office of HAI Prevention Research and Evaluation, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion The optimal approach to controlling MRSA in healthcare facilities has been a topic of ongoing controversy. Of par…
World Health Day 2011 Spotlights Growing Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance
Author – Jean B. Patel, PhD, D(ABMM) Deputy Director for CDC’s Office of Antimicrobial Resistance CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion Each year, millions of Americans take antimicrobial drugs, including antibiotics. People have come to…
Media Reports about Drug-Resistant Infections
Author – Arjun Srinivasan, MD CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion You probably have seen the media reports this week about drug-resistant infections in California healthcare facilities, specifically those in Los Angeles County. What we k…