Hospital Infection Control & Prevention – December 1, 2015
December 1, 2015
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How Much Is Too Much?
While healthcare workers often contaminate themselves doffing personal protective equipment, there’s interest in scaling back contact precautions.
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Lack of PPE training leads to frequent contamination
A major factor in contamination problems when removing personal protective equipment appears to be the fundamental issue of PPE training — or lack thereof.
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More than half of IPs given no additional resources
More than a year out from the emergence of Ebola, many infection preventionists report they received no additional resources to deal with the crisis, still lack adequate supplies of personal protective equipment, and remain uncertain about how frequently healthcare workers need to be trained to ensure they are donning and doffing personal protective equipmentcorrectly.
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Physicians work when ill, even with confirmed flu
Driven by a traditional work culture that underscores their responsibility to patients and commitment to coworkers, physicians will show up for work symptomatic and sick, even if they have laboratory-confirmed influenza, researchers reported recently in San Diego at the 2015 IDWeek conference.1
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CDC, FDA warn of surgical infections caused by heater-cooler units
An increase in nontuberculous mycobacteria infections in post-surgical patients has been linked to contaminated water emitted from heater-cooler devices used in surgery. Infection preventionists and their clinical colleagues should immediately review cleaning and disinfection procedures for the devices and ensure only sterile water is used in them, public health agencies advise.