Becker's Hospital Review

6 INFECTION CONTROL & PATIENT SAFETY VA improving infection control, but there's room for improvement, study finds By Anuja Vaidya T he reported use of 12 infection-prevention practices increased in Veterans Affairs hospitals between 2005 and 2017, but there is room for improvement in key infection control areas, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Between 2005 and 2017, infection preventionists were surveyed at all VA hospitals every four years. e surveys assessed infection control practices to curb common healthcare-associated infections. Researchers examined responses to 320 surveys. ey found that reported use of 12 infection-prevention practices increased: For catheter-associated urinary tract infections: • Use of alternatives to urinary catheters For central line–associated bloodstream infection: • Maximal sterile barrier precautions during insertion • Antimicrobial dressing with chlorhexidine For ventilator-associated pneumonia: • Use of semirecumbent positioning • Antimicrobial mouth rinse • Subglottic secretion drainage • Selective digestive tract decontamination • Use of silver-coated endotracheal tubes For Clostridioides difficile infection: • Contact precautions • Use of private rooms or cohorting • Soap and water hand hygiene • Terminal disinfection But the study also found areas in need of improvement with regard to use of infection-prevention practices, including the lack of adoption of several practices that could help reduce catheter-associated urinary tract in- fections and the continued use of microbiologic testing for healthcare-associated infections that could contrib- ute to overuse of antibiotics. n How tracking employees in real time can reduce hospital infections By Gabrielle Masson H ospitals using real-time location systems to track hand hygiene could reduce hospital infection rates, according to Scientific American. Some hospitals are ensuring hand hygiene compliance with new technology that enables location-based services. Healthcare em- ployee tags provide their locations, and similar tags are attached to sanitizer and soap dispenser levers that show if they're being used. A Denver hospital's baseline hand hygiene compliance jumped from about 40 percent to over 70 percent after implementing the technology, according to Scientific American. A different hospital used the real-time location services to track hand hygiene auditors as they moved around the facility, accord- ing to a BMJ Quality & Safety study cited by Scientific American. The study found that dispensers within view of the auditors were used twice as often as those out of sight. The technology shows promise, according to Scientific American, as improvements in hand hygiene could lead to a reduction in hospital-acquired infections. n New Jersey hospital improperly discharged 6-year-old who died of flu, lawsuit claims By Mackenzie Bean A New Jersey couple is suing Hoboken (N.J.) University Medical Center, claiming physicians' negligence led to their daughter's death from the flu in 2018, reported NJ.com. Stephanie Conteron and Gabriel Hernandez took their daughter Nevaeh to the hospital for a fever and headache on Feb. 9, 2018. Physicians discharged her after she tested negative for flu and strep throat. After Nevaeh's symptoms did not improve, Ms. Conteron took her to Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center, where she experienced four seizures and fell into a coma before dying on Feb. 12, 2018. The lawsuit alleges Hoboken University Medical Center physi- cians failed to recheck Nevaeh's vital signs or review her medical history of seizures before discharging her. The suit names Hoboken University Medical Center, several clini- cians and the hospital's owner, Jersey City, N.J.-based CarePoint Health, as defendants. A spokesperson for CarePoint told NJ.com it does not comment on pending litigation. n

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