Unlike most professions where graduation with a degree is often the end of the formal education process, staying up to date on current practices means that infection control training never really ends. Nurses and other medical specialists who elect to become Infection Control professionals must...
"Lawsuits change behavior and big lawsuits can make big changes." So said an attorney for plaintiffs who sued Olympus Corporation and Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC) for failing to provide adequate cleaning and sterilization instructions for its duodenoscope. Surgeons at VMMC used a contaminated Olympus...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide America's medical community with research and data to help it provide citizens with the best care possible. A major focus of the CDC is infection control and prevention, and the health care leader recently released a...
Epidemiologists - those scientists who study the incidence and pathology of infections - keep an eye on hospital-acquired infection statistics (HAIs) as an indicator of the presence of pathogens in health care settings. Even though a hospital or medical clinic is a haven for healing,...
An often overlooked but critically necessary nursing specialty is that of the Infection Control Nurse. During a regular workday, every medical professional faces the myriad of bacteria, fungus, and disease that accompany their patients into the clinic. A dedicated Infection Control Nurse identifies those contaminants,...
Every health care facility benefits from the services of an Infection Control Consultant to ensure the safety of its patients and staff. Clinics needing an infection-focused professional on staff must be careful to scrutinize the education and experience of all applicants to be certain that...
Even as advances in modern medicine are eradicating diseases and illness, today's health-care facilities including hospitals are still struggling to reduce or eradicate the many types of hospital acquired infections (HAIs). The pathogens that cause HAI's, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, are introduced into...
The Importance/Principles of Infection Control Nurses Infection prevention doesn't just happen. Every medical facility has infection-control experts on staff to ensure infectious agents such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses are destroyed or contained before they can harm any patient. In many facilities, infection control nurses are...
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires all health care facilities seeking CMS financial reimbursement to meet exacting "Conditions of Participation" standards for controlling infections. Within each facility, the Sterile and Materials Processing Department (also known as "sterile supply") is responsible for ensuring...
Download our FREE infection prevention checklist today!