Hospital Infection Control & Prevention – January 1, 2016
January 1, 2016
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VA hospital system may mandate staff flu shots in ‘near future’
With a new study finding that virtually none of the nation’s 150 Veterans Health Administration hospitals have mandatory flu shot policies for healthcare workers — leaving vaccination rates languishing in the 55% range — the VA system is considering a vaccine mandate to protect patients and coworkers, Hospital Infection Control & Prevention has learned.
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Are novel flu vaccines an answer for high-risk patients?
Amid ongoing efforts to get 90% of healthcare workers immunized against seasonal flu by 2020, researchers are seeking to boost the immunity of high-risk patients to protect them from serious and even fatal flu infections in the hospital and the community.
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Parents of 350 babies warned of possible TB transmission from infected worker
As patient notifications of potential exposures to infectious disease go, it doesn’t get much worse than telling parents their newborn baby may be in danger.
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Bare below elbows: Common sense or nonsense?
Is it time for clinicians to lose the white coats, long sleeves, and neckties in favor of bare arms for patient care? Citing anecdotal evidence, common sense, and the limited data available in the absence of clinical trials, the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics is doing just that beginning January 2016, said Michael Edmond, hospital epidemiologist at the Iowa City facility.
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The do’s and don’ts of using masks and N95s
With all the post-Ebola emphasis on personal protective equipment, there’s no time like the present to review the proper use and wear of masks and respirators. -
EPINet has new leadership, expands mission to go beyond threat of bloodborne infections
The International Healthcare Worker Safety Center — one of the original surveillance systems for healthcare worker needlesticks — has made a dramatic transition to an independent non-profit center that is widening the net beyond bloodborne pathogens to include worker exposures to Clostridium difficile and MRSA.
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Diverting more than drugs: Addicted workers can harm patients, drain hospital budgets
In the largest settlement of its kind involving allegations of drug diversion at a hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston has agreed to pay the United States $2.3 million to resolve allegations that lax controls enabled MGH employees to divert controlled substances for personal use. MGH voluntarily disclosed the diversion.
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Change is the constant: Can IPs turn challenge into opportunity?
Infection preventionists are still struggling to raise their profile and funding for their programs, many of which received no additional support last year during an unprecedented Ebola crisis in the U.S.