Many health systems made the strategic choice to suspend elective surgeries during the pandemic, reallocating resources to address the public health crisis. However, in recent months, certain facilities have been forced to pause surgeries for a different, unforeseen reason.
Infection Control
Efforts to standardize quality and safety practices systemwide are paying off for West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health, with the system achieving a 40% reduction in central line infections last year.
A new strain of multidrug resistant Pseudocitrobacter bacteria has been identified by researchers. The novel strain was resistant to seven different classes of antibiotics, according to the data, published Jan. 17 in The Journal of Hospital Infection.
State officials have cited Penn Medicine's Lancaster (Pa.) General Hospital for several health code violations, including failure to ensure sterilization equipment was available for surgeries.
As the Biden administration calls on hospitals to do more to reduce sepsis deaths, Henry Ford Health in Jackson, Mich., has started involving its emergency department nurses more in detection practices, the American Medical Association reported Jan. 11.
Advertisement
Even after adhering to disinfection routines to a tee, pathogenic bacteria is still detectable on high-touch surfaces in hospitals, new research published Jan. 10 in the American Journal of Infection Control found.
The Joint Commission has added new and revised standing requirements for accreditation of both critical access hospitals and hospitals for infection control procedures, the organization announced Jan. 10.
Hospitals lost significant progress in reducing healthcare-associated infections amid the pandemic, but many organizations are starting to see improvements, according to a LinkedIn poll conducted by Becker's.
The FDA now recognizes vaporized hydrogen peroxide as an established sterilization method for medical devices, according to a Jan. 8 update.
The CDC is calling for improved donor screening and culture-based testing of donor organs and tissues after the second outbreak of tuberculosis in transplant cases.