Tag: hygiene
Skin Decontamination to Prevent ICU Infections
Intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infections can be serious complications of medical care of critically ill patients. Despite multiple tested and implemented preventive measures for such infections, their incidence is persistently... read more
Octenidine Bathing Effective in Preventing ICU-acquired Primary Bacteremia
EFFECT has demonstrated that octenidine is effective at preventing primary bacteremia. The emphasis lies among Gram-positive bacteria and common skin commensals. As part of a robust bundle strategy, octenidine can serve... read more
Cluster of Carbapenemase-Producing Carbapenem-Resistant Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Among ICU Patients
Treatment of carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CP-CRPA) infections is challenging because of antibiotic resistance. CP-CRPA infections are highly transmissible in health care settings because... read more
CDC update calls for universal mask-wearing
The CDC calls for universal mask use at all times indoors, except when within one's own household, and outside when distances of 6 feet or more cannot be maintained. Additional strategies in the report are social distancing... read more
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
Placards Do Not Improve Hand Hygiene Adherence
Hand hygiene placards posted in a Denver hospital — including one that featured an image of two eyes looking directly at the viewer with a reminder to clean their hands — did not result in measurable improvements in hand... read more
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
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
Electronic Hand Hygiene System Fails to Improve Staff Satisfaction in ICU
A study published in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control examined the effect of introducing an electronic hand hygiene surveillance and intervention system into an ICU. Researchers introduced the system into a general... read more
Facilitators and Barriers of Hand Hygiene
What keeps ICU nurses from washing their hands? And why do some overcome the barriers? Although there are many papers on hand hygiene, this new one in American Journal of Infection Control caught my eye. In this study 3,260... read more
Recognize Sepsis as Separate Cause of Illness and Death
Sepsis should be recognized as a separate cause of illness and death around the world. This focus would help efforts to prevent sepsis by improving hygiene, nutrition and vaccination rates and also lead to timely treatment,... read more
Doctors, hospitals, advocates push for education on killer sepsis
Many people don't know about sepsis. Meanwhile, health care providers struggle to identify it early. Sepsis kills more than 250,000 people every year; people at highest risk are those with weakened immune systems.... read more
