Dataset Information

Healthcare-associated pathogens and nursing home policies and practices: results from a national survey.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE To examine the prevalence of healthcare-associated pathogens and the infection control policies and practices in a national sample of nursing homes (NHs). METHODS In 2012, we conducted a national survey about the extent to which NHs follow suggested infection control practices with regard to 3 common healthcare-associated pathogens: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium difficile, and extended-spectrum ?-lactamase producers, and their prevalence in NHs. We adapted a previously used and validated NH infection control survey, including questions on prevalence, admission and screening policies, contact precautions, decolonization, and cleaning practices. RESULTS A total of 1,002 surveys were returned. Of the responding NHs, 14.2% were less likely to accept residents with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, with the principal reason being lack of single or cohort rooms. NHs do not routinely perform admission screening (96.4%) because it is not required by regulation (56.2%) and would not change care provision (30.7%). Isolation strategies vary substantially, with gloves being most commonly used. Most NHs (75.1%) do not decolonize carriers of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, but some (10.6%) decolonize more than 90% of residents. Despite no guidance on how resident rooms on contact precautions should be cleaned, 59.3% of NHs report enhanced cleaning for such rooms. CONCLUSION Overall, NHs tend to follow voluntary infection control guidelines only if doing so does not require substantial financial investment in new or dedicated staff or infrastructure.

SUBMITTER: Ye Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4472566 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Healthcare-associated pathogens and nursing home policies and practices: results from a national survey.

Ye Zhiqiu Z Mukamel Dana B DB Huang Susan S SS Li Yue Y Temkin-Greener Helena H

Infection control and hospital epidemiology 20150323 7

OBJECTIVE To examine the prevalence of healthcare-associated pathogens and the infection control policies and practices in a national sample of nursing homes (NHs). METHODS In 2012, we conducted a national survey about the extent to which NHs follow suggested infection control practices with regard to 3 common healthcare-associated pathogens: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium difficile, and extended-spectrum β-lactamase producers, and their prevalence in NHs. We adapted a ...[more]

PMID: 25797334

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Project description:ObjectiveTo examine the extent to which acute care hospitals in the Netherlands have adopted recommended practices to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), and Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI).MethodsBetween 18 July 2017 and 31 October 2017, we surveyed the infection prevention teams of all acute care hospitals in the Netherlands. The survey instrument was based on the 'Translating Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention Research into Practice' (TRIP) questionnaire and adapted to the Dutch context. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the reported regular use of CAUTI, CLABSI, VAP, and CDI prevention practices as well as the hospital characteristics.ResultsOut of 72 eligible hospitals, 47 (65.3%) responded. Surveillance systems for monitoring CAUTI, CLABSI, VAP, and CDI were present in 17.8, 95.4, 26.2, and 77.3% of hospitals, respectively. Antimicrobial stewardship programs have been established in 91.5% of participating hospitals. For CAUTI, the majority of hospitals regularly used aseptic technique during catheter insertion (95%) and portable bladder ultrasound scanners (86.1%). Intermittent catheterization and catheter stop-orders were regularly used by 65.8 and 62.2% of hospitals. For CLABSI, all hospitals regularly used maximum sterile barrier precautions and chlorhexidine gluconate for insertion site antisepsis. Avoidance of the femoral site for central line insertions was regularly used by 65.9% of hospitals. Urinary catheters and central-lines impregnated with antibiotics or antiseptics were rarely used (≤ 5%). Selective decontamination strategies for preventing VAP were used in 84% of hospitals. With the exception of disposable thermometers (31.8%), all prevention practices to prevent CDI were regularly used by more than 80% of hospitals.ConclusionsMost Dutch hospitals report regular use of recommended practices for preventing CLABSI and CDI. Several specific practices to prevent CAUTI and VAP were less frequently used, however, providing an opportunity for improvement.

Project description:ImportanceCurrent guidance to furlough health care staff with mild COVID-19 illness may prevent the spread of COVID-19 but may worsen nursing home staffing shortages as well as health outcomes that are unrelated to COVID-19.ObjectiveTo compare COVID-19-related with non-COVID-19-related harms associated with allowing staff who are mildly ill with COVID-19 to work while masked.Design, setting, and participantsThis modeling study, conducted from November 2023 to June 2024, used an agent-based model representing a 100-bed nursing home and its residents, staff, and their interactions; care tasks; and resident and staff health outcomes to simulate the impact of different COVID-19 furlough policies over 1 postpandemic year.ExposuresSimulating increasing proportions of staff who are mildly ill and are allowed to work while wearing N95 respirators under various vaccination coverage, SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility and severity, and masking adherence.Main outcomes and measuresThe main outcomes were staff and resident COVID-19 cases, staff furlough days, missed care tasks, nursing home resident hospitalizations (related and unrelated to COVID-19), deaths, and costs.ResultsIn the absence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the study's 100-bed agent-based model, nursing home understaffing resulted in an annual mean (SD) 93.7 (0.7) missed care tasks daily (22.1%), 38.0 (7.6) resident hospitalizations (5.2%), 4.6 (2.2) deaths (0.6%), and 39.7 (19.8) quality-adjusted life years lost from non-COVID-19-related harms, costing $1 071 950 ($217 200) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) perspective and $1 112 800 ($225 450) from the societal perspective. Under the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant conditions from 2023 to 2024, furloughing all staff who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 was associated with a mean (SD) 326.5 (69.1) annual furlough days and 649.5 (95% CI, 593.4-705.6) additional missed care tasks, resulting in 4.3 (95% CI, 2.9-5.9) non-COVID-19-related resident hospitalizations and 0.7 (95% CI, 0.2-1.1) deaths, costing an additional $247 090 (95% CI, $203 160-$291 020) from the CMS perspective and $405 250 (95% CI, $358 550-$451 950) from the societal perspective. Allowing 75% of staff who were mildly ill to work while masked was associated with 5 additional staff and 5 additional resident COVID-19 cases without added COVID-19-related hospitalizations but mitigated staffing shortages, with 475.9 additional care tasks being performed annually, 3.5 fewer non-COVID-19-related hospitalizations, and 0.4 fewer non-COVID-19-related deaths. Allowing staff who were mildly ill to work ultimately saved an annual mean $85 470 (95% CI, $41 210-$129 730) from the CMS perspective and $134 450 (95% CI, $86 370-$182 540) from the societal perspective. These results were robust to increased vaccination coverage, increased nursing home transmission, increased importation of COVID-19 from the community, and failure to mask while working ill.Conclusion and relevanceIn this modeling study of staff COVID-19 furlough policies, allowing nursing home staff to work with mild COVID-19 illness was associated with fewer resident harms from staffing shortages and missed care tasks than harms from increased COVID-19 transmission, ultimately saving substantial direct medical and societal costs.

Project description:ObjectivesTo characterize intensivist handoff practices and expectations and to explore perceptions of the patient safety implications of attending handoffs.DesignCross-sectional electronic survey administered in 2014.SettingOne hundred sixty-nine U.S. hospitals with critical care training programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.SubjectsAcademic intensivists were recruited via e-mail invitation from a database of 1,712 eligible academic intensivists.InterventionsNone.Measurements and main resultsSix hundred sixty-one intensivists completed the survey (completion rate, 38.6%). Responses were received from at least one individual at 147 of 169 unique hospitals (87.0%) represented in the study database. Five hundred seventy-three (87%) respondents reported participating in handoffs at the end of each ICU rotation. A variety of communication methods were used for end-of-rotation handoffs, including in-person discussion (92.9%), telephone calls (83.9%), e-mail messages (69.0%), computer-generated documents (64.6%), and text messages (23.6%). Mean satisfaction with current handoff process was rated as 68.4 on a scale from 0 to 100 (SD, 22.6). Respondents (55.4%) said that attending handoffs should be standardized, but only 13.3% (76/572) of those participating in end-of-rotation handoffs reported using a standardized process. Specific handoff topics, including active clinical issues and resuscitation status, were reportedly discussed less frequently than would be ideal (p < 0.001 for the difference between reported frequency and ideal frequency). In free-text comments, 76 respondents (11.5%) expressed skepticism that attending handoffs were necessary given the presence of residents and fellows and given a lack of agreement about necessary content. Two hundred respondents (30.8%) reported knowing of an adverse event (inappropriate treatment, cardiac arrest, and death) attributable to inadequate attending handoffs.ConclusionsICU attending handoffs in the United States exhibit marked heterogeneity, and intensivists do not agree about the value of attending handoffs. In addition, some intensivists perceive a link between suboptimal attending handoffs, inappropriate treatment, and serious adverse events that warrants further study.

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Healthcare-associated pathogens and nursing home policies and practices: results from a national survey.

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Healthcare-associated pathogens and nursing home policies and practices: results from a national survey.

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