Adult Critical Care Medicine

Adult Critical Care Medicine

This clinical casebook provides a comprehensive yet concise state-of-the-art review of adult critical care medicine. Presented in a case-based format, each case focuses on a scenario commonly encountered with an adult patient... read more

Development and Assessment of Objective Surveillance Definitions for Nonventilator Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia

Development and Assessment of Objective Surveillance Definitions for Nonventilator Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia

These findings suggest that objective surveillance for NV-HAP using electronically computable definitions that incorporate common clinical criteria is feasible and generates incidence, mortality, and adjusted ORs for hospital... read more

Microbial Strategies to Reduce Pathogens and Drug Resistance in Clinical Settings

Microbial Strategies to Reduce Pathogens and Drug Resistance in Clinical Settings

Healthcare‐associated infections (HAIs) are a global concern, affecting all western hospitals, and profoundly impairing the clinical outcome of up to 15% of all hospitalized patients. Persistent microbial contamination... read more

Preventing Surgical Site Infections Related to Abdominal Drains in the ICU

Preventing Surgical Site Infections Related to Abdominal Drains in the ICU

Surgical site infections are significant contributors to health care–associated infections. Nursing interventions may help decrease the incidence of surgical site infections, particularly in regards to the management of... read more

A hospital-wide intervention replacing ceftriaxone with cefotaxime to reduce rate of HAI in the ICU

A hospital-wide intervention replacing ceftriaxone with cefotaxime to reduce rate of HAI in the ICU

Over the last decades, the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE) involved in poor outcomes has dramatically increased worldwide.... read more

Post-discharge Impact of Healthcare-associated Infections in a Developing Country

Post-discharge Impact of Healthcare-associated Infections in a Developing Country

The impact of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) on in-hospital mortality, morbidity, length-of-stay, and costs has been extensively reported. However, few studies have focused on the follow-up of HCAI-affected subjects... read more

Closed ICU Model Linked to 100% Reduction in Several HAIs

Closed ICU Model Linked to 100% Reduction in Several HAIs

A closed intensive care unit model, in which a patient is evaluated and admitted under an intensivist and patient care orders are written by ICU staff, can help reduce rates of several healthcare-associated infections (HAI),... read more

Low Hand Hygiene Compliance in ICUs

Low Hand Hygiene Compliance in ICUs

Healthcare workers in intensive care units (ICUs) are regularly missing opportunities to clean their hands during the care of patients, despite its critical importance for infection control, according to new research being... read more

Going Into Hospital Far Riskier Than Flying

Going Into Hospital Far Riskier Than Flying

Millions of people die each year from medical errors and infections linked to health care and going into hospital is far riskier than flying according to World Health Organization. If you were admitted to hospital tomorrow... read more

Mobile Devices Are Reservoirs for the Transmission of Nosocomial Pathogens

Mobile Devices Are Reservoirs for the Transmission of Nosocomial Pathogens

Global burden of hospital-associated infection (HAI) is on the rise and contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality of the patients. Hundred percent contamination was found in mobile phones and hands of HCWs indicating... read more

Hospital-acquired Infections – Adding Process Metrics

Hospital-acquired Infections – Adding Process Metrics

So far, we've only been looking at metrics that are really big and important. This is certainly a good place to start. To move beyond this, I'd like to introduce the concept of Outcome vs Process Metrics. Outcome Metrics... read more

The Clinical Impacts and Risk Factors for Non-central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection in 5046 ICU Patients

The Clinical Impacts and Risk Factors for Non-central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection in 5046 ICU Patients

Most of the previous studies focused on central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), while non-central line-associated bloodstream infection (N-CLABSI) was poorly studied. This study was performed to investigate... read more

Reducing Hospital-Acquired Infections Among the Neurologically Critically Ill

Reducing Hospital-Acquired Infections Among the Neurologically Critically Ill

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) result in excess morbidity, mortality, and resource consumption. Immobilized, ventilator-dependent ICU patients are at the highest risk of HAI. Despite broad implementation of relevant... read more

Electronic Health Records & Preventing Healthcare-Associated Infection

Electronic Health Records & Preventing Healthcare-Associated Infection

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), as part of the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act of 2009, was created to accelerate the pace of technology diffusion in the American healthcare... read more