Hospital Infection Control 2003-12-01

Joint Commission ‘bells the cat’ with its new 2005 IC standards

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has issued new infection control standards for 2005, emphasizing at a conference in Chicago that hospital executives not ICPs are going to have to take ultimate responsibility for enacting them.

2005 JCAHO standards feature analysis, action

Some of the key aspects of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations 2005 infection control standards are summarized here:

Joint Commission’s Q&A on infections as sentinel events

The Joint Commission provides the following answers to frequently asked questions about its 2004 patient safety goal to manage as sentinel events all identified cases of unanticipated death or major permanent loss of function associated with a health care-acquired infections:

Superbug claims two lives as all drugs fail

A nosocomial outbreak of a novel strain of strikingly resistant Acinetobacter baumanii led to two patient deaths before it was eradicated through strict isolation and environmental decontamination, an infection control professional reports.

Community-acquired MRSA hampers empiric therapy

At least three similar but distinct strains of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) are emerging in the United States, rendering common empiric therapy useless and causing aggressive skin infections, Healthcare Infection Prevention has learned.

CDC’s Q&A on community MRSA infections

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides the following answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA).

IOM links staffing, patient infections

Infection control is one of the key areas cited in a recent national report warning that nursing staffing problems pose a grave threat to patient safety.

New nurse, familiar story lead to patient infection

A recent patient safety report by an Institute of Medicine committee in Washington, DC, includes the following true firsthand account of a staffing problem leading to a nosocomial infection.

SARS audio program updates guidelines

2003 Salary Survey Results: Will rising ICP profile bring salaries with it?

Emerging infections, bioterrorism, and the patient safety movement are converging along with changes in the health care delivery system to reinvent the role of infection control. But the rising profile of infection control professionals is not necessarily lifting salaries along with it.

Hospital Infection Control & Prevention – December 1, 2003

December 1, 2003