Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

13 INFECTION CONTROL Escape room spurs 61% jump in hand-washing at Texas system By Mackenzie Bean T wo nurses at Central Texas Veter- ans Health Care System designed a flu pandemic escape room that led to an increase in hand-washing and flu vaccine acceptance at the Tem- ple-based organization. Gracia Boseman, RN, and Kristy Causey, MSN, RN, created the zombie-themed high consequence infectious disease escape room in 2017 to boost staff at- tendance at voluntary infection preven- tion and control education sessions. "The escape room was successful be- yond our wildest expectations," Ms. Boseman in a news release. Attendance increased from an aver- age of 20 clinical workers per training to 189 clinical and nonclinical attend- ees. Self-reported data from partici- pants showed a 61 percent increase in hand-washing and 21 percent jump in use of personal protective equipment. "Staff also became acutely aware that contaminated surfaces play a role in disease transmission as they carry virus- es and bacteria, and the importance of wearing PPE — knowledge that would prove invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic," Ms. Boseman added. Ms. Boseman and Ms. Causey present- ed their findings June 28 at the Asso- ciation for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology's virtual an- nual conference. n Unvaccinated MetroHealth staff must take weekly COVID-19 tests By Kelly Gooch E mployees at Cleveland-based MetroHealth who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 are now required to undergo weekly coro- navirus testing, the health system said. The weekly testing requirement for unvaccinated employees started July 1. Spokesperson Mike Tobin told Becker's that the mandate is based on maintaining the safety of pa- tients and staff. He also noted that employees have had the opportunity to get vaccinated and still can be vaccinated before the mandate takes effect. "A dedicated email address and phone number have been set up to answer medical questions from employees about safety and potential side effects," he said. "Employees are encouraged to get vaccinated, since the vaccines have proven to be safe, effective and our best hope to return- ing to normal." As of May 13, about 72 percent of MetroHealth's approximately 7,800 employees had received at least one dose, and about 70 percent were ful- ly vaccinated. n Reports show unseasonable spike in RSV cases By Erica Carbajal C ases of respiratory syncytial virus in the U.S. have been on the rise since February, with nearly 500 cases reported in the week ending May 22, according to the CDC. While RSV typically peaks in the fall, cases remained low through- out the fall of 2020 and early winter, likely due to widespread COVID-19 pandemic safety measures such as social distancing and mask wearing. In March, however, RSV cases detected by polymerase chain reaction tests jumped from 73 to 143 during the week ending March 13, the CDC reported. New York City-based Maimonides Children's Hospital didn't see its first RSV patient for the 2020-21 fall season until February. Across the following few months, 197 children were admitted to the hospital with RSV, and 81 percent were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit. A total of six patients were placed on ventilators, according to a pre-print study published June 9 in Pediatrics. Just 45 percent of pediatric RSV patients were ad- mitted to the ICU during the previous year's season, according to the findings. "Our data indicates more severe disease in younger infants pos- sibly due to diminished immunity from lack of exposure to RSV in the previous season," the researchers said in the study pub- lished June 9. "Although our early findings cannot predict the height of the RSV surge or how long it may last, it does suggest that institutions should plan ahead for an increase in pediatric emergency visits and potentially a need for increased pediatric [ICU] capacity in the coming weeks." n "The escape room was successful beyond our wildest expectations." - Gracia Boseman, RN, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System

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