Outbreaks related to flexible endoscopes have been in the news repeatedly over the last several decades. Most outbreak investigations concluded that inadequate cleaning, improper high-level disinfection procedures, or problems associated with an automated endoscope reprocessor were responsible for the outbreak. However, the more recent outbreaks...
FDA, along with CDC, representatives from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), duodenoscope manufacturers and other experts, has developed voluntary standardized protocols for duodenoscope surveillance sampling and culturing, which updates the CDC interim guidance published in March 2015. Highlights from the 2018 protocol: Focus: detect...
Infection preventionist, infection control practitioner, infection control coordinator, infection control nurse, nurse epidemiologist, and infection control officer are some of the titles given to the person responsible for the infection control program at healthcare facilities. Infection control professionals typically have a background in nursing, medical...
Regardless of the setting (dental, ambulatory medical practice, ambulatory surgery, hospital, or long-term care) healthcare personnel go to work every day with the intention of taking excellent care of patients. No one anticipates giving a patient more than what they came for – like a...
Although the CDC Guidelines for Isolation Precautions were published in 2007, many questions remain in clinician’s minds when trying to determine if a patient should be placed into precautions. To add to the confusion, not all hospitals or ambulatory surgery centers place a patient...
Sterilization, high-level disinfection, low-level disinfection – how do I know what to do? How do you know if the reusable instrument or probe in your practice area requires high-level disinfection, sterilization or if wiping with a disposable disinfectant wipe is adequate? How can you ensure ultrasound...
Point of care (POC) or waived testing is an everyday occurrence in all healthcare settings but it doesn’t come without risk to patients. Did you know that from 2008 -2015 more than 100,000 patients were notified of a potential exposure to viral hepatitis after receiving...
The citations were related to cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization of medical equipment (e.g. instruments, flexible endoscopes, and ultrasound probes). To avoid a citation, standardize cleaning, disinfection and sterilization processes, including point of use cleaning in all areas performing high-level disinfection or sterilization throughout the facility. If...
Statistics reveal that one of every twenty hospital patients will contract some form of healthcare-associated infection, whether it is caused by the use of contaminated equipment, indirectly from the hands of healthcare personnel, or by the simple act of touching the mouth or nose after...