Holiday Decorations, Part 2: They’re Nice But Not if They Spread Infection
Is this the year when hospitals can finally embrace decorating again? Maybe not. Hospitals beds this winter are being filled across the country due to a rise in COVID-19 cases as well as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus cases that are hitting children particularly hard.
Hospital Amoxicillin Supply Not Keeping Up With Surging Demand
Data from Vizient, a healthcare consultancy with supply chain services, showed a 43% surge in demand for amoxicillin products in the acute care setting from September to October 2022. In that same period, fill rates dropped by 25%. This data comes from purchases by Vizient members, which encompass more than 60% of the nation’s healthcare organizations.
Researchers Link 266K Avertable Deaths to COVID Vaccination Rates
The rate of COVID mortality in the nation’s 10 least-vaccinated states – 145 per 100,000 population — was nearly double the COVID mortality rate of the 10 most-vaccinated states (74.5/100,000), according to the letter which was published Friday in JAMA Network.
Employee Contact Tracing Helps Mount Sinai Control COVID-19 Spread
Writing in the November issue of The Lancet Digital Health, researchers form the New York-based health system describe the creation of the Mount Sinai Employee Health COVID-19 REDCap Registry, a cloud-based digital framework using a web application known as Research Electronic Data Capture.
Navigating Our Way out of the Acute Pandemic Hand Hygiene Slump: A Back-to-Basics Approach
While hand hygiene is the most foundational practice, it is also one of the most difficult to improve. Educating a workforce on hand hygiene—which many frontline caregivers should be performing dozens, if not a hundred times per day—is a significant challenge.
International Infection Prevention Week Resources From PSQH
As International Infection Prevention Week wraps up, we want to thank infection preventionists for all the hard work they do every day. In Friday’s issue of Patient Safety & Quality Insider, we’re recapping the content we ran this week for IIPW.
Review Needlestick Training After ER Nurse Acquires Monkeypox
Remind clinical staff and others about sharps safety now that the CDC has confirmed an emergency department nurse contracted monkeypox in Florida from a needlestick. It is the first healthcare-acquired monkeypox case in the United States since a public health emergency was declared earlier this year.
PSQH Quick Poll 2022: Taking the Pulse of Infection Prevention Efforts
As part of PSQH’s celebration of International Infection Prevention Week, we decided to reach out to our readers with a few questions to find out the state of infection prevention efforts. The Quick Poll had a total of 209 respondents.
PSQH: The Podcast Episode 64 – Spotlighting the Danger of Non-Ventilator Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia
On episode 64 of PSQH: The Podcast, Dian Baker, a professor at the School of Nursing, California State University, Sacramento, talks about hospital-acquired pneumonia. This episode is part of PSQH’s activities for International Infection Prevention Week.
Chief Nurse: How to Reduce Serious Safety Events
Ward, who has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare administration and has served in senior nursing roles in organizations across the country, spoke with HealthLeaders about what has worked in reducing serious safety events.