What is Candida auris? Candida auris is an emerging pathogenic fungus that has caused outbreaks in healthcare facilities worldwide. This fungus can cause severe infections in patients, particularly those who are immunocompromised, and is associated with high mortality rates. Why is Candida auris a problem for hospitals and nursing homes? Infections caused by Candida auris are challenging to treat, as … Read More

Children’s hospitals have many priorities. Bolstering the pediatric workforce has been a major topic of concern for hospitals in recent years, as has been preventing the spread of infection; even with COVID-19 on the decline, hospitals spend millions of dollars a year combating the spread of C.diff and other infections. Protecting the mental health of their young patients — as … Read More

Recovering from an outbreak of a healthcare-associated infection (HAI) is one of the most significant challenges an infection preventionist can face. This type of work is important in any type of healthcare setting, but can be especially crucial in long-term facilities like nursing homes, where patients tend to be older and/or more vulnerable and prone to illness. An outbreak of … Read More

When most people think of hospital data, they think of data that relates directly to the patients: demographics, diagnosis, lengths of stay, etc. This information is relatively easy to collect, and it is useful when providing treatment and looking at overall trends for care. Other hospital data can be more challenging to gather accurately, but is critical to answering important … Read More

Patient satisfaction is critical to the success of hospitals and other healthcare settings. Providers that consistently fail to meet patients’ satisfaction risk damaging their reputation in the community, and patient satisfaction tied to valid health and safety concerns — such as staff not following hand hygiene best practices — can lead to costly healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Because hand hygiene plays … Read More

Contact tracing is an important strategy for controlling disease. Hospitals that can quickly identify who was exposed, where they went, and who they interacted with can cut down on transmission and significantly slow the spread of costly infections. Unfortunately, many hospitals and healthcare settings still rely on manual efforts to contact trace, which can be time-intensive and prone to error. … Read More

Outbreaks of CLABSI and CAUTI in hospitals can be costly in healthcare settings. These types of healthcare associated infections (HAIs) add up to billions of dollars in health care costs each year and can erode community trust in a healthcare facility. Yet despite the significant costs to hospitals and other healthcare settings, many providers are not covering all of their … Read More

Good hand hygiene is critical to preventing the spread of infection at home and in healthcare settings. Unfortunately, even some healthcare professionals are not aware of hand hygiene best practices and its role in preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). We’ve compiled some talking points around hand hygiene for those struggling to communicate the importance of hand hygiene to their staff, or … Read More

Reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is critical to patient safety, yet many healthcare settings struggle with basic preventative measures like handwashing. In these situations, a hand hygiene audit can be used to assess and improve compliance for a safer, more sanitary environment. In the past, many healthcare settings have relied on manual hand hygiene audits, but these processes can be time-consuming … Read More