Safe Healthcare Blog

Hosted by CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. If you have questions or comments about healthcare safety topics, please contact CDC-INFO at https://wwwn.cdc.gov/dcs/ContactUs/Form.

I am a C. diff survivor. What I know now and what I want others to know.

Maryann Webb, C. diff Survivor

“This must be cancer.”  That’s what I thought when I was hospitalized for a second time in two months. One month prior, I was hospitalized with diverticulitis, which was treated with strong intravenous antibiotics. Then I found myself back in the hospital. This time, it was worse than diverticulitis. I had never been so sick Read More >

Posted on by Maryann Webb20 Comments
Categories Patient Stories and Patient Safety
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The Journey to an Infection Prevention and Control Career

Janet Glowicz getting ready for rounds.

The Journey to an Infection Prevention and Control Career In the complex world of health care, infection prevention and control (IPC) is crucial to keeping everyone safe. IPC helps protect healthcare professionals and reduces patients’ risk for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), which they can get while or soon after receiving care. HAIs can lead to prolonged Read More >

Posted on by Janet Glowicz, MPH, Ph.D, RN, CIC, LTC-CIP, Morgan Kuhnly MSN, RN, CIC and Mia Frederick
Categories Healthcare-associated infections
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CDC and Global Partners Commit to Collective Action to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance

Andi Fristedt and Dan Jernigan

In late September 2024, global leaders gathered in New York City for the second United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting (UNGA HLM) on Antimicrobial Resistance. Since the first UNGA HLM on Antimicrobial Resistance in 2016, the United States (U.S.) has made tremendous progress toward the goals in the U.S. National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-resistant Read More >

Posted on by Michael Craig, MPP, Director, Antimicrobial Resistance Coordination and Strategy Unit, CDC1 Comment
Categories Healthcare-associated infections
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A failing health care system caused my husband’s death

Vonda Vaden Bates and her late husband Yogiraj Charles Bates.

This opinion article was originally published in STAT: A failing health care system caused my husband’s death. His care team was incredibly kind, but they lacked the resources to save his life. On Tuesday, September 17, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Agency for Healthcare Read More >

Posted on by Guest Author Vonda Vaden Bates, a patient safety advocate.6 Comments
Categories Blood, Organ, and Tissue Safety, Patient Stories and Patient Safety
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Healthcare Worker Vaccination is Important for Respiratory Virus Season 2024

Healthcare worker rolls up her sleeve to show bandaid after getting vaccination

Respiratory virus season is here. As a healthcare worker, you play a critical role in slowing and preventing the spread of viral respiratory infections, including flu and COVID-19. Like hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE), and environmental cleaning and disinfection, vaccination is a critical tool in our infection control toolbox. Getting vaccinated in combination with Read More >

Posted on by Janet Glowicz, PhD, RN, Infection Preventionist with Project Firstline in CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion1 Comment
Categories Healthcare-associated infections
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