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Showing results for tags 'Healthcare associated infection'.
Found 180 results
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Content ArticleNon-ventilator-associated hospital-acquired pneumonia (NVHAP) is one of the most common and deadly healthcare-associated infections, but it is not tracked, reported or actively prevented by most hospitals. This article in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology highlights a national call to action to address NVHAP in the US. This national call to action includes: launching a national healthcare conversation about NVHAP prevention. adding NVHAP prevention measures to education for patients, healthcare professionals, and students. challenging healthcare systems and insurers to implement and support NVHAP prevention. encouraging researchers to develop new strategies for NVHAP surveillance and prevention.
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Content ArticleWhen hospital patients do not have their teeth brushed it can lead to them developing pneumonia—poor dental hygiene in hospital is believed to be a leading cause of hundreds of thousands of cases of pneumonia a year. In this blog for Medscape, reporter Brett Kelman looks at the link between dental hygiene and hospital-acquired pneumonia, which kills up to 30% of patients who are infected with it. He highlights a lack of understanding of the impact of failing to brush inpatients' teeth, in spite of a growing body of research evidence that links lack of adequate toothbrushing to pneumonia infection.
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Content Article
UK Infected Blood Inquiry website
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Other reports and inquiries
This is the website of the independent public statutory Inquiry established to examine the circumstances in which patients in the UK were given infected blood and blood products, in particular since 1970. The Inquiry is Chaired by barrister Keith Langstaff, who has experience of health-related public inquiries. The website contains information on: public hearings and meetings evidence latest news on the Inquiry how to get support if you have been affected by infected blood products. The Inquiry team is also inviting patients and family members of patients who received infected blood or infected blood products to give evidence to the Inquiry, either as a written statement or by speaking to an intermediary. Evidence given to the Inquiry will contribute to its findings and recommendations. -
Content ArticleSlides on preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) presented at a Safer Healthcare and Biosafety Network meeting. The session aimed to: Provide a brief overview of CAUTI as a clinical problem. Summarise evidence for key infection prevention practices to reduce CAUTI. Consider how to implement improvements to support best practice and promote safer care.
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Content ArticleKaren Lesley Starling died on 7 February 2020 aged 54 and Anne Edith Martinez died on 17 December 2020 aged 65. Both deceased underwent successful lung transplant procedures at the new Royal Papworth Hospital. However, both women became infected with a hospital acquired infection, namely Mycobacteria abscessus (M. abscessus), and died. M. abscessus is an environmental non-tuberculous mycobacterium (NTM). It can sometimes be found in soil, dust and water, including municipal water supplies. It is usually harmless for healthy people but may cause opportunistic infection in vulnerable individuals. Lung transplant patients and lung defence patients such as Mrs Starling and Mrs Martinez were at particular risk of infection from mycobacteria, including M. abscessus.
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Content Article
BD - Voices of safety videos
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Patient stories
This series of videos produced by pharmaceutical company BD features patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals telling their stories about patient safety. Each video highlights an experience of avoidable harm, with topics including sepsis, antimicrobial resistance, medication errors and healthcare associated infections. -
Content Article'The state of care in NHS acute hospitals 2014 to 2016' presents findings from the Care Quality Commission (CQC's) programme of NHS acute comprehensive inspections. The report captures what has been learned from three years’ worth of inspections. It gives a baseline on quality that is unique in the world – and also shows that it is possible, even in challenging times, to deliver the transformational change that is needed if the NHS is to continue delivering high-quality care into the future.
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Content ArticleA set of 5 infographics describing the the factors that influence the risk of nosocomial transmission of infections (such as Covid19), and how health and care staff can take action to manage the risks and reduce the infection rate. The factors explained are: People Equipment Task Environment Organisation
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Content ArticleThe latest ECRI and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices PSO Deep Dive explores one of the areas that accounts for a large portion of healthcare volume: surgical care. Annually, surgery accounts for 7 million inpatient hospital stays and 36 million procedures in the outpatient setting. Although surgical safety has been the subject of guidelines, patient safety and quality improvement projects, and attention in the literature, adverse events continue to occur with relative frequency, putting patients at risk.
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Content ArticleThe purpose of this study from Klevens et al. was to provide a national estimate of the number of healthcare-associated infections and deaths in United States hospitals
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Content ArticleThis study, published in BMJ Quality and Safety, aimed to quantify the prevalence and nature of adverse events in acute Irish hospitals in 2015 and to assess the impact of the National Clinical Programmes and the National Clinical Guidelines on the prevalence of adverse events by comparing these results with the previously published data from 2009.Key findings:an estimated 54,000 patient safety or adverse incidents occurred in Irish public hospitals in 2015 this cost the health service an estimated €190m in additional costs for extended hospital stays and treatmentthe volume of adverse incidents in hospitals "remained stable" between 2009 and 201514% of all hospital admissions in 2015 involved an adverse incident compared to 12.2% in 2009.
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Content ArticleThe rise in antimicrobial resistance has highlighted the importance of surgical site infection (SSI) prevention with effective surveillance strategies playing a key role in improving patient safety. The aim of this study from Troughton et al. was to map national needs and priorities for SSI surveillance against current national surveillance activity. The authors found that current surveillance and future priorities were not associated with SSI rate, volume, or cost to hospitals. The two highest contributors of SSIs and related costs have no (caesarean section) or limited (LBS) coverage by national surveillance.
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Content ArticleJones et al. hypothesised that antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) could be enhanced through positive feedback for the behaviors of healthcare professionals. This project aimed to reduce antimicrobial consumption in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) by >5%, with secondary aims to reduce broad-spectrum antimicrobial consumption, and processes related to AMS.
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Content ArticleThe purpose of this study from Kleven et al. was to provide a national estimate of the number of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) and deaths in United States hospitals.
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Content Article
Patient Safety Movement: Story of Pat Denton
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in By patients and public
The story of Pat Denton who died from a surgery site infection after surgery. -
Content ArticlePreventing surgical site infections requires knowledge of the sources of wound contamination. One possible source of wound contamination is bacteria aerosolised in diathermy plume (ie, surgical smoke). This study from Leonard Schultz used an experimental model of porcine tissue embedded with Serratia marcescens to determine the extent of viable bacteria present in surgical plume. The results showed that only blended current electrosurgery, not laser plume or coagulation electrosurgery, contains viable bacteria. Further, the study revealed that placing a suction device near the electrosurgical site reduced the number of aerosolised viable bacteria. Therefore, evacuating the electrosurgical plume may help reduce contamination of the surgical wound. Nurses may wish to advocate for the use of air suction devices as one way to protect patients from surgical site infections.
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Content ArticleSurgical site infections continue to represent a costly complication of spine surgery. Studies show that surgical smoke can contain infectious agents, and smoke evacuation systems have demonstrated effective removal of these particles from the operative field. Kreuger et al. reviewed the literature on surgical smoke and to study the effect of a smoke evacuation system on the rate of surgical site infections (SSIs) after spine surgery.
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Content ArticleSurgical site infections (SSIs) are one of the main sources of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), which is a leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. While multiple causes of SSIs have been identified, one key source of wound contamination is surgical smoke, which can contain live viruses and bacteria as well as toxic chemicals, particulates and contaminated body fluid in the form of blood and dispersed vapor. Plume serves as a transfer vehicle for these pathogens. A team of bacteriology experts at Biotest Laboratories, Inc. in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, undertook a project to discover if effective smoke capture and evacuation could limit local dispersal and aerosolization of bacteria. The researchers used porcine tissue embedded with viable bacteria (Serratia marcescens) to determine the extent of viable bacteria present in surgical plume. They developed protocols, performed experiments and tabulated results for three separate experiments. Their tests showed that plume from blended current electrosurgery contained viable bacteria and that placing a suction device near the electrosurgical site reduced the number of aerosolised viable bacteria. The study confirmed that effective smoke capture prevents bacteria in smoke from being aerosolised and significantly reduces contamination of a simulated surgical wound, in this case by as much as 50% to 60% compared to control.
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Content Article
Mölnlycke: SSI Risk Reduction Partnership
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Surgery
Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) are a problem of increasing concern with major implications for both patients and the NHS. Between 2014 – 2019 SSIs, as a percentage of all healthcare associated infections, jumped from 16% 1 to 20%. It is a growing problem, in need of a solution. Mölnlycke has developed the Risk Reduction Partnership is a new initiative that has been specifically designed to combat the problem and potentially help reduce its incidence and impact. -
Content ArticlePresentation from Professor Benedetta Allegranzi, WHO's Infection Prevention & Control Global Unit, on the World Health Organization's guidelines on the prevention of surgical site infections.
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Content ArticleWorld Health Organization (WHO) presentation summarising the global guidelines and recommendation for the prevention of surgical site infections.
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Content ArticleThis report summarises data submitted by NHS hospitals and independent sector (IS) NHS treatment centres in England to the national SSI Surveillance Service (SSISS) at Public Health England (PHE). The aim of the national surveillance programme is to enhance the quality of patient care by encouraging hospitals to use data obtained from surveillance to compare their rates of SSI over time and against a national benchmark, and to use this information to review and guide clinical practice. The SSISS provides an infrastructure for hospitals to collect data on 17 surgical categories spanning general surgery, cardiothoracic, neurosurgery, gynaecology, vascular, gastroenterology and orthopaedics. Surveillance is targeted at open surgical procedures, which carry a higher risk of infection than minimally invasive (‘keyhole’) procedures.
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Content ArticleSurgical site infections (SSIs) present a considerable challenge for healthcare systems across the world, including in the UK, and have a substantial impact on patients and healthcare professionals. Despite clear evidence and guidelines on how to reduce the risk of these infections on a global, regional and national basis – and the fact that research shows up to 60% of SSIs are preventable – infection rates remain high. Progress has been made in recent years, yet more than 5% of patients undergoing a surgical procedure still develop an SSI, and each infection has been estimated to cost the NHS between £10,0003 and £100,000 per patient. It is now time to act. Collectively we need to reduce the variation in practice across the UK, embed evidence-based examples of best practice, and work collaboratively with the NHS to help reduce the incidence of SSIs to improve patient outcomes. Embedding this guidance and changes to practice cannot take place in silos. It will require action from the whole healthcare community: from policymakers, to trusts, to hospitals, healthcare professionals and medical Royal Colleges, right the way through to the patient themselves. This report, Time to Act: A State of the Nation report on Surgical Site Infections in the UK, will review the available evidence, examples of best practice and reflections from the front line, to make recommendations to each of these groups in order to drive significant improvement in reducing SSI rates in the UK.
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Content ArticleNHS England and Improvement, in collaboration with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), has selected the first antimicrobial drugs to be purchased via the UK’s innovative ‘subscription-type’ payment model. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) refers to the process by which microorganisms develop defences against antimicrobial drugs, enabling these microorganisms to adapt and become resistant to treatment. It’s a serious problem and has recently been identified as one of the World Health Organization’s top 13 global health challenges in the next decade. Without working antibiotics, routine surgery like caesarean sections or hip replacements will become too dangerous to perform, cancer chemotherapy will become prohibitively high-risk and certain infections will require long and complex treatment; or will no longer be treatable. Already, the microorganisms that cause many common diseases around the world – including tuberculosis, malaria, gonorrhoea, urinary tract infections and chest infections – can resist a wide range of antimicrobial medicines. Like all global challenges, leaders in the international community need to come forward and act on AMR, and the UK – with the NHS as the world’s largest single public health system – is taking the initiative. NHS England and Improvement project leads, Mark Perkins and David Glover, discuss this important step in tackling AMR.
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Content ArticleThe Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) aims to improve the culture of safety while providing frontline caregivers with the tools and support that they need to identify and tackle the hazards that threaten their patients at the unit or clinic level. Developed by Johns Hopkins safety and quality researchers, the five-step programme has been used to target a wide range of hazards, including patient falls, hospital-acquired infections, medication administration errors, specimen labeling errors and teamwork and communication breakdowns. Notably, CUSP has been used in national and international quality improvement projects that have drastically reduced hospital-acquired infections. Whether your hospital has participated in such projects or is seeking to adopt CUSP, the Armstrong Institute provides resources to help you run a successful programme.
