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.

Compendium 2022 Update: Strategies for Healthcare-associated Infection Prevention

Updated recommendations on how to prevent central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), as well as ventilator-associated pneumonia, ventilator-associated events (VAEs), and non-ventilator healthcare-associated pneumonia (NV-HAP) were recently published. These changes come at a time when the need to strengthen infection prevention programs and help hospitals rebuild and support healthcare systems is urgent. These two guidance documents Read More >

May 24, 2022 by Lisa Maragakis, M.D., M.P.H., FSHEA, FIDSA and Deborah Yokoe, MD, MPH16 Comments

Healthcare-associated infections

Clean Hands May Have Saved My Son’s Life

Describe what the image is intended to communicate—not what it looks like

As both a mom and preschool teacher, I have said “wash your hands” more times than I can imagine. Before my newborn son died in a hospital, I never imagined I needed to say it to a doctor. But if all healthcare personnel always used proper hand hygiene in my son’s care, sepsis may not Read More >

May 5, 2022 by Mary Ellen Mannix4 Comments

Patient Stories and Patient Safety

Hand Hygiene, Infection Control and Prevention, Sepsis

Medication Safety for Parents & Caregivers

When our children don’t feel well, we parents will look to just about anything to bring them comfort. Many times, this means reaching for medication to ease their symptoms. As a pediatrician, I know the safest place to store medicine in between uses is in a location up and away. But as a mom, I’ve Read More >

March 23, 2022 by Dr. Hailey Nelson, MD, FAAP, IBCLC

Medication Safety

Danger, Medications, patient safety, Vulnerable Populations

Finding My Voice as a C. diff Patient

At the age of 31, I knew nothing of patient advocacy; having a voice for my own healthcare simply hadn’t crossed my mind. I’ve since learned that it is essential to include patient voices in the healthcare system. When I was prescribed a preventive antibiotic for a root canal I, like most Americans, thought nothing Read More >

October 27, 2021 by Christina Fuhrman6 Comments

Healthcare-associated infections

Antibiotic Resistance and Antibiotic Use (Stewardship), C. difficile, Healthcare-associated Infections, Survivors

Patient Safety Representatives Unite to Implement Global Patient Safety Action Plan in the United States

Armando Nahum is a founding member of Patients for Patient Safety U.S. as well as co-founder and president of Safe Care Campaign, an organization dedicated to infection prevention.

Preventable harm in the healthcare system is an urgent public health challenge, internationally and in the United States. Globally, more people die now from medical errors or other breakdowns in the quality and safety of healthcare services than from lack of access to them. (1) Researchers estimate that medication errors, preventable infections, venous thromboembolism, falls, Read More >

October 7, 2021 by Armando Nahum, Patients for Patient Safety U.S., Founding Member2 Comments

Healthcare-associated infections, Patient Stories and Patient Safety

Action Plan, Implementation, Infection Control and Prevention, patient safety