Chris | July 21, 2010
ESBL is the acronym for Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase. It is somewhat complicated; basically, ESBLs are bacteria that produce an enzyme capable of neutralizing the effectiveness of certain classes of Beta-lactam antibiotics such as, carbapenems, cephalosporins and certain penicillin derivatives. The end result is yet another type of antibiotic resistance.
The bacteria are spread in the same way [...]
Chris | July 7, 2010
Some diseases such as Hepatitis B and C and HIV/AIDS may go undiagnosed for years, yet they are infectious to others. The H1N1 Influenza virus is infectious and transmissible days before the infected person has any signs and symptoms of disease. Although a history and physical may give us pertinent information regarding the health history [...]
Chris | July 1, 2010
Hand washing, hand washing, we hear about it over and over again, often to the point of monotony, but this video is so innovative. Here is the U Tube link; Hospital Universities of Geneva Hand Washing Video
Chris | June 6, 2010
In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) developed a 12 steps campaign to prevent antimicrobial resistance in long-term care. Step # 4 states “Broad-spectrum antibiotics must be targeted to known pathogens.” Broad spectrum antibiotics are frequently ordered in long-term care. The physician is usually not on the premises when they receive a call that [...]
Chris | May 20, 2010
The CDC defines Multidrug-resistant Organisms (MDRO’s) as microorganisms that have developed resistance to multiple antimicrobial drugs; two MDRO’s we are most familiar with in Long-term Care are MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) and VRE (Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus). Patients, healthcare workers and visitors are potential sources of MDRO’s. They may be colonized, infected, and unknowingly transmitting resistant organisms to one [...]
Chris | May 9, 2010
Situation: One of the nurses tells you she has an elderly, asymptomatic female patient who has been diagnosed with three urinary tract infections in the past three months. The physician orders Levoquin each time he is called with positive culture results and orders repeat cultures when the antibiotic is completed. The cultures usually come back [...]
Chris | May 2, 2010
Situation: A 72 year old female patient develops a painful rash with fluid filled blisters on the right side of her face, but nowhere else. What should you, the Infection Preventionist do?
Consider this a potential case of Shingles; This is the same virus that causes Chicken Pox, a disease that used to be prevalent in [...]
Chris | April 25, 2010
Who spends more time with patients than the healthcare worker? Physicians, nurses, dieticians, physical therapist, housekeeping, and social workers are in and out of patient rooms multiple times a day. But for the most part, the nursing assistants spend the majority of the shift physically caring for Long-term Care patients; no one else gets in [...]
Chris | April 15, 2010
If you are the Staff Developer and the Infection Preventionist you are most likely responsible for Employee Health as well; that includes annual resident and employee Tuberculosis screenings with PPD. What do you do if an employee converts from a negative to a positive PPD?
To begin with, The Preventionist needs to be skilled at administering [...]
Chris | April 5, 2010
“It’s in the Infection Control Manual”
I receive calls and questions from Staff Developers and Directors of Nursing on a daily basis. Remember when we were young students working on a report and we asked our parents how to spell a word? We wanted the answer immediately but instead, they told us to “look it up”. Now [...]