Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1090681
7 INFECTION CONTROL & PATIENT SAFETY How Sentara hospitals use copper to drop infection rates By Megan Knowles C opper-infused patient gowns, pillowcases, bed sheets, blankets and towels helped decrease infection rates at six hospitals owned by Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Healthcare, a study published in the Journal of Hospital Infection found. The researchers compared healthcare-associated infection rates in six Sentara Healthcare hospitals during three parallel periods before and after replacing regular linens with copper-infused ones. Using the products by Cupron — a copper-based antimicrobial technology company — significantly decreased occurrences of Clostridium difficile infections and infections caused by multidrug resistant organisms such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, the study found. "This study of Cupron's medical textiles alone validates their effectiveness in preventing hospital-acquired infections in a real-world clinical setting, along with a robust infection prevention protocol," Jacqueline Butler, direc- tor of infection prevention and control at Sentara Healthcare, told CBS-affil- iated television station WTKR. n Johns Hopkins hospitals don't always follow 'basic safety rules,' report claims By Mackenzie Bean B altimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine has faced numerous alle- gations of "making preventable errors or setting aside basic safety rules" in recent years, which arguably contradicts its reputation as a national leader in patient safety, according to an investigative report from the Tampa Bay Times. The publication cited nine cases that involved preventable errors or other patient safety issues dating back to 2011, some of which persisted even after frontline workers alerted health system executives, according to the report. In one case, federal inspectors found a surgical patient died after receiving the wrong type of blood at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Bal- timore. In another case, surgeons at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md., continued to perform surgeries after hospital officials learned the operat- ing rooms weren't being cleaned properly. In a statement to the Tampa Bay Times, Johns Hopkins called medical errors a "tragic fact" that occur at all healthcare facilities, but also said the health system "can and will do better." "The Tampa Bay Times has identified occasions where it is apparent that as an organization we failed to act quickly enough, we failed to listen closely enough and, in some instances, we failed to deliver the care our patients and their families deserve. This is unacceptable," Johns Hopkins said in the statement. "Anyone who demonstrates that they are unwilling or unable to maintain our rigorous and exacting safety culture will not be a welcome member of our caregiving community." n Patient dies hours after being turned away from Wisconsin hospital By Megan Knowles A patient at a Franklin, Wis., hospital died of heart disease hours aer being sent home to wait for a bed to be freed up for him, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. e patient, 46-year-old Spendi Rusitovski, visited the Ascension Southeast Wisconsin hospital Dec. 17 with chest pains. e hospital ordered a sonogram test for him that uncov- ered "an issue," and his primary physician wanted to admit him "due to the serious nature of the sonogram results," according to police and medical examiner reports. e hospital did not have available beds early that aernoon, so Mr. Rusitovski and his wife were instructed to return to their home and wait for a call when a bed became available, his wife said. e reports did not say what time they le the hospital. At about 9 p.m., Mr. Rusitovski was driving when his SUV crossed the center line and went into oncoming traffic. He crashed into a telephone pole and landed in a ditch. Mr. Rusitovski told the first police officers on the scene he felt chest pains and needed to get to an emergency room, and by the time he was moved to a gurney, he was unconscious. Life support was unsuccessful, and he was declared dead in the ambulance. As part of its investigation into Mr. Rusitovski's death, the Milwaukee County Medical Exam- iner's Office got records from the hospital and found that he had been turned away earlier. e report did not offer more detail about his visit or the results of his sonogram test. Mr. Rusitovski's cause of death was "coronary artery disease," the medical examiner ruled. Ms. Rusitovski has retained an attorney to investigate her husband's death. An Ascension spokesperson declined the Journal Sentinel's request for comment, citing privacy laws. n