Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to clothing, tools and gear that is intended to protect an individual from potential hazards that they may be exposed to at work or while engaging in other activities. Common job hazards that may necessitate the use of PPE include exposure to dangerous chemicals, bodily fluids or infectious germs. Some […]

Employee wellness programs have become increasingly popular across companies of all sizes over the past few decades. [1]. Employee wellness programs were first initiated as an employee benefit and were advertised as a perk of working for some of these larger corporations. […]

Baylor Orthopedic and Spine Hospital at Arlington, Texas presented a poster at ID Week 2016: Pre- and Post-Operative Participation of Orthopedic Patients and Surgical Staff in a Novel Intervention to Reduce Staphylococcus aureus Infection. The premise of the poster abstract presentation was “overall reduction of potentially infectious bacteria in the immediate patient environment is critical to effective infection […]

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Hospital acquired infections (HAIs), including the infections caused by Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), are costing hospitals more than $30 billion per year. New federal health care rules are also reducing reimbursements to hospitals for HAI treatment. Studies show that nasal carriage plays a major role in HAI and […]

by Phenelle Segal Despite significant advances in the reduction of healthcare-associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the process for prevention of transmission remains tedious, time consuming, demanding of healthcare personnel, costly and, oftentimes, unsuccessful. The traditional approach to prevention of transmission of multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) has included screening for colonization (e.g., MRSA screening of […]

Martin J. Blaser, MD, is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the human microbiome – and he proved it last year with the publication of his critically acclaimed, best-selling book, “Missing Microbes,” which helped lay audiences better understand the microbiome’s often complex make-up and the important role it plays in human health.Now, Blaser will […]

Collecting and reporting hospital infection data to federal health agencies takes more than 5 hours each day, at the expense of time needed to ensure that frontline healthcare personnel are adhering to basic infection prevention practices such as hand hygiene, according to a recent case study, to be presented on Saturday, June 27 at the […]

The Nudge Theory has been widely used to improve healthy behavior and works as an external cue to memory. Kwok and McLaws (2015) report on their efforts to engage medical staff in improved hand hygiene compliance. An automated hand hygiene surveillance system was installed in an Australian tertiary teaching hospital. The clinicians were taught to […]

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) supports all of the nation’s healthcare providers across the spectrum of healthcare stepping up coordinated efforts to curb improper use of antibiotics by practicing antibiotic stewardship.  A new Vital Signs report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spotlights the issue of healthcare […]

Bacteria’s ability to become resistant to antibiotics is a growing issue in health care: Resistant strains result in prolonged illnesses and higher mortality rates.One way to combat this is to determine bacteria’s antibiotic resistance in a given patient, but that often takes days — and time is crucial in treatment. ASU scientists have developed a […]