Defend Public Healthcare

The U.S. based Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and the Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE) are partnering to strengthen the relationship between infection prevention (IP) and environmental services (EVS) to reduce infections. A joint educational campaign, "Clean Spaces, Healthy Patients: Leaders in Infection Prevention and Environmental Services Working Together for Better Patient Outcomes," will incorporate educational resources, training materials and other solutions to help IP and EVS professionals combat the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Cooperation between IP and EVS staff is an excellent idea. However, the privatization of environmental services will undermine this cooperation. From our experience, for-profit cleaning corporations prefer to keep direct control of EVS staff to maintain profits. IP and nursing staff may have to make requests to the corporate hierarchy rather than...

An earlier report indicated potential problems with health care uniforms contaminated by superbugs.  Now, it's privacy curtains.   Researchers in Chicago reported this week that privacy curtains in hospitals are often contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria. "There is growing recognition that the hospital environment plays an important role in the transmission of infections in the health care setting and it's clear that these (privacy curtains) are potentially important sites of contamination because they are frequently touched by patients and providers," Dr. Michael Ohl told Reuters Health . Tests detected MRSA and VRE.  The study found significant contamination that occurred very rapidly after new curtains were placed. "The vast majority of curtains showed contamination with potentially significant bacteria within a week of first being hung, and many were hanging for longer than three or four weeks," Dr. Ohl noted. "We need to think a...

A great story today in the Brantford Expositor on the important role played by housekeeping in hospitals. Finally , the media is beginning to recognize the role housekeeping staff play in fighting superbugs and hospital acquired infections.   In the past, hospital housekeeping services were cutback, privatized and treated as "hotel" or "auxillary" services with predictable consequences for the level of care.  Here's some excerpts from the story: The job isn't just housekeeping. These days it is much more technical. Today, they collaborate closely with the  infection prevention  and control department. " Our environmental service aides are  skilled  professionals whose contributions are  critical  to the  success  of preventing the transmission of infectious diseases not only among patients, but also our staff, physicians and volunteers, " Sandra Comand, manager- infection prevention and control said. " They are a highly ed...