Category: Healthcare-associated Infections

6 Tips for Patients to Avoid Healthcare-Associated Infections

Patricia Stinchfield

When a loved one is hospitalized, the last thing anyone wants is for them to get an infection while receiving care. Yet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on any given day, about 1 in 31 U.S. hospitalized patients has a healthcare-associated infection (HAI). An HAI is an infection that develops Read More >

Posted on by Patricia (Patsy) A. Stinchfield, RN, MS, CPNP6 CommentsTags , ,

Strengthening Infection Prevention and Control in Sierra Leone and Ethiopia

One person helps another to put on personal protective equipment

Experts are working together to bring down rates of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in low- and middle-income countries, which can be at least 3 times higher than those in high-income countries. Healthcare professionals trained in infection prevention and control (IPC) are critical to reduce HAIs and improve patient and healthcare worker safety, but many healthcare facilities Read More >

Posted on by Lindsay Tompkins and Karen Wu5 CommentsTags

A CDC Update on the Part One Draft update to the Guideline for Isolation Precautions: Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in Healthcare Settings

The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the approach we take in healthcare settings to protect healthcare personnel, patients, and others from transmission of respiratory infections. Experimental and observational data show that an important pathway for transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is via inhalation of small particles in the air generated by Read More >

Posted on by Daniel Jernigan, MD, MPH and John Howard, MD, MPH, JD, LLM, MBA109 CommentsTags ,

Ethiopian Hospitals Use Infection Prevention and Control Practices to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance

Two hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, are demonstrating that even when access to resources is limited, commitment to infection prevention and control (IPC) practices makes combating antimicrobial resistance (AR) possible. Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria can cause severe, hard-to-treat infections. They were associated with almost 5 million deaths worldwide in 2019. IPC practices such as proper hand hygiene, Read More >

Posted on by Guest authors: Sophie Jones and Elizabeth Soda4 CommentsTags , , , , ,

I Want My Sepsis Experience to Help Save Lives

Katy Grainger, Sepsis Alliance Board of Directors

In 2018, I got a small infection on my thumb that looked unusual, so I visited an emergency room. All my vital signs were strong at the time, and there was no indication that the infection had progressed or that my body had developed sepsis. Over the next 36 hours, I developed several of the Read More >

Posted on by Katy Grainger, Sepsis Survivor, double amputee, patient advocate and member of Sepsis Alliance Board of Directors13 CommentsTags , , ,