Nurse Survey, Knowledge Gaps and the Creation of an Environmental Hygiene Protocol for Patient Transport: We Can Do Better

Congratulations to VCU infection prevention nurse Amie Patrick on this recently published manuscript in the American Journal of Infection Control, one in which over 1000 VCU nurses were surveyed on environmental hygiene for patient transport and soiled linen disposal.

The high response rate by front line nurses is no small feat. 

Knowledge of environmental hygiene during patient transport and removal of patient linens was erratic and glove overuse  was coupled with missed hand hygiene opportunities.  This potentially increases the risk of HAI cross transmission via environmental contamination.

From this project was born a proposed protocol flow sheet for carrying soiled linens out of patient rooms. The flow sheet is include in the manuscript.

We can do better and this is a start.

Yuck: Docs' White Coats Rarely See the Washing Machine - Media Interview

Photo credit: Dr. Mike Edmond

Our work was recently reproduced and not for the better. At least we tried.

In this recent American Journal of Infection Control publication, by Dr. Olvera-Lopez and colleagues, white coat laundering remains infrequent and awareness of the SHEA expert guidance paper on Healthcare Attire in Non-Operating Room Settings remains low (approximately 20% in an internal medicine department). 

Low frequency of laundering white coats was reported by us in 2014. Not much has changed.

I was interviewed for the corresponding MedPage Today article on the above topic.

The Damage Framework and Infection Prevention: From Concept to Bedside

Kudos to my VCU colleague Dr. Emily Godbout for her recently published commentary on the damage response framework and infection prevention. The project came to fruition with the collaboration of our esteemed colleagues Drs. Theresa Madeline, Arturo Casadevall and Liise-anne Pirofski.

The damage response framework with respect to infection prevention is evolving and becoming increasingly more relevant.

How Much is Enough? The Case for a Short Course of Treatment for Pseudomonas Bloodstream Infections

Source: CDC.gov

I like it when a study answers the practical question of how much is enough? In this case the focus is the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bloodstream infections.

Kudos to Dr. Valeria Fabre and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University on this recently published manuscript in Clinical Infectious Diseases. In the absence of metastatic infection, with source control achieved and with therapy transitioned from IV to oral treatment, a 10 day course of antibiotics was sufficient for Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia. To boot, a short course of antibiotic therapy was associated with a reduced length of hospital stay.  Hospital administration will be thrilled.

The time honored 14 days of intravenous therapy for bacteremia is once again challenged.

Time to End Non-Medical Exemptions of Vaccination: Our Editorial in the Richmond Times Dispatch

Source: Richmond Times Dispatch

Along with  Dr. Pam Bailey (3rd year infectious diseases and hospital epidemiology fellow) we published this op-ed essay on ending non-medical vaccine exemptions for childhood vaccinations.

The essay is available here in the Richmond Times Dispatch

In the face of a national measles resurgence and with a recent case in the state of Virginia, the time is now for the Virginia General Assembly to prohibit non-medical exemptions of vaccination.

Career Exploration: So You Want To Be A Hospital Epidemiologist? Flashback from 2009

Wow! 

So you want to be a Hospital Epidemiologist? Featured in Career Exploration in the Richmond Times Dispatch in 2009....recovered from the dustbin today during an office clean out.

I am not so sure if this really worked out is a recruitment tool....

Humans: A Brief History of How We F****! It All Up

Kudos to Tom Phillips for a masterful book, one that is is equal parts an academic history lesson with a perfect blend of wit and comedy.

I particularly enjoyed the chapters on science and the age of discovery. To quote the author:

“Confirmation bias is our annoying habit of zeroing in like a laser-guided missile on any scrap of evidence that supports what we already believe, and blithely ignoring the possibly much, much larger piles of evidence that suggest we might have been completely misguided.”

Spot on.

This book is well worth reading.