May 2022

For the past two-plus years, the world has constantly turned to infection preventionists and epidemiologists looking for answers on how to combat an insidious and...

Zero is always the goal. Our surgery center works tirelessly on multiple fronts to ensure no patient walks away from an elective procedure with a surgical site infection (SSI). Of course, hitting that elusive benchmark is always...

Most surgical professionals are relatively knowledgeable about the best surface cleaning practices, and tried-and-true manual methods remain the best way to...

There are between 75 and 100 intricate steps involved in the proper reprocessing of flexible endoscopes. That means there are countless opportunities for staff to miss critical steps...

No matter how hard one tries, the skin simply cannot be made sterile. It can, however, be made surgically clean. Optimizing the skin’s cleanliness prior to surgery is the target that...

Studies have shown that up to 30% of the population may be colonized with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in their nares and up to 5% of U.S. hospitalized patients...

Every time Lauren Bryan, RN, notices an OR team member following her facility’s robust hand hygiene protocols, she makes it a point to verbally acknowledge the compliance she just witnessed. It’s positive recognition, sure....

No sterile processing department (SPD) manager wants to add another step to the complex and strategically redundant process of sterilizing surgical instruments....

Warming patients before, during and after surgeries delivers two primary benefits. The most obvious is the comfort. Warmth can do wonders to soothe a shivering, nervous...

What is the biggest difference between inpatient and outpatient infection prevention? Generally, there isn’t a playbook for the outpatient setting. If you become an infection preventionist for the inpatient world, there’s online...