Healthcare Hygiene magazine January 2020

2.8 million infections and 35,000 deaths in the United States each year. That means, on average, someone in the United States gets an antibiotic-resistant infection every 11 seconds and every 15 minutes someone dies.” To keep patients, visitors and staff safe, organizations should be ready to implement CDCs recommended con- tainment strategies when these organisms are identified. This includes ensuring compliance with existing Joint Commission focus areas, including: • Implementation of standard and transmission-based precautions • Making appropriate personal protective equipment available to staff • Training staff on selection, limitations, maintenance, donning and removal of personal protective equipment • Enforcing use of appropriate personal protective equipment Note: Examples of potential survey findings related to the aforementioned areas were published in the August 2019 edition of Perspectives, under the “Consistent Interpretations” section. We are making progress but there is still much work to be done both for the common infections that occur in healthcare such as SSI, and those, such as antibiotic resistant organism and other high- consequence organisms, that loom on the horizon. Each healthcare organization needs to look within and conduct an accurate risk assessment – and ask: where are the low hanging fruit and the biggest risks? Are leadership, staff, patients, their families and their significant others are involved? And, is everyone working together to prioritize, plan, implement, and monitor? If we all hold ourselves and our colleagues responsible and accountable…together we can get to zero HAIs! So, 14 years later, do I think that we can achieve zero HAIs? My answer is a resounding Yes! Sylvia Garcia, MBA, RN, CIC, is director of infection prevention and control within the of Division of Healthcare Improvement at the Joint Commission. References: 1. Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. Prevention Strategist. 40 Years of Growth and Progress. Winter 2012. 2. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. Medicare program: changes to the hospital inpatient prospective payment systems and fiscal year 2008 rates. Federal Register. 2007;72(162):47129–48175. 3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2018 National and State Healthcare-Associated Infections Progress Report. Available at: https://www. cdc.gov/hai/data/portal/progress-report.html 4. Magill SS, et.al. Changes in prevalence of healthcare associated infections in U.S. Hospitals. N Eng J Med. 2018 Nov 1;379(18):1732-1744. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1801550 5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Antibiotic resistance threats in the United States – 2019. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/ drugresistance/pdf/threats-report/2019-ar-threats-report-508.pdf . 6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Containment Strategy Responding to Emerging AR Threats. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/ hai/containment/index.html. JOIN THE HEALTHCARE SURFACES INSTITUTE AND WORK WITH US! The Healthcare Surfaces Institute was not formed to duplicate what is currently being done by others, but to address a serious issue that is virtually overlooked—the role surfaces play in transmitting pathogens that cause infection and illness in healthcare settings. Benefits of membership and partnership include: • • • • • Visit our website today for more information: 12 Work closely with high-level professionals on cutting edge research Help us develop the Healthcare Surface Certification and Standards program Participate in the development of the full-room testing incubator Be a part of the rapid response consulting team Get first access to Institute resources and programs healthcaresurfacesinstitute.org january 2020 • www.healthcarehygienemagazine.com

Healthcare Hygiene magazine January 2020 | Page 12