Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

10 INFECTION CONTROL & PATIENT SAFETY Brigham and Women's Mandatory Flu Shot Policy Prompts Nursing Suit By Kelly Gooch A union representing nurses at Bos- ton-based Brigham and Women's Hospital is standing up against the facility's new policy mandating flu vaccines for employees, reports e Boston Globe. Here are seven things to know. 1. Brigham's new policy mandates employees receive annual flu vaccines. 2. Employees may opt out of the new policy for health or religious reasons, although those who do opt out must put on face masks around patients, according to the report. 3. e Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents thousands of Brigham nurses, is suing the hospital over the new policy. e union claims nurses who opt out of the new policy for reasons unrelated to health or religion are unfairly and unlaw- fully penalized, according to the report. e union also claims nurses should be the deci- sion-makers when it comes to flu vaccines. 4. Overall, the MNA hopes to block the new policy before its Oct. 1 effective date. 5. Hospital officials are backing the new policy. "e hospital is moving forward with implementing this policy because we believe that mandating the vaccine will create the safest-possible environment for our patients, visitors and staff," Brigham spokesperson Lori Schroth told e Boston Globe via email. "Influenza can carry significant health risks, especially for someone who has a compro- mised immune system." 6. Other healthcare organizations are also supportive of healthcare workers getting vaccinated. e Massachusetts Department of Public Health "encourages" flu vaccines for hospital employees without a medical reason to forgo the vaccine, according to the report. Additionally, the CDC recommends "everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine every season." 7. Last year, 91 percent of Brigham and Women's staff received a flu vaccine, and the hospital hopes to have an improved number this year, reports e Boston Globe. Brigham told the hospital the deadline for hospital employees to receive their flu vaccine is Dec. 1. n SSI Risk 50% Higher in Patients With Recorded Penicillin Allergy By Anuja Vaidya S urgical patients with a documented allergy to penicillin face a significantly higher risk of developing surgical site infections than patients with no recorded penicillin allergy, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Researchers examined medical records of 8,400 patients who under- went common surgical procedures at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital from 2010 to 2014. Of the 8,400 patients, 922 had a penicillin allergy noted in their medical record. The study shows 214 patients developed a SSI — 3.5 percent of patients with a documented penicillin allergy versus 2.6 percent of those without. Researchers found, after adjusting for age, sex, race and the type and duration of surgery, patients with a documented penicillin allergy had a 50 percent higher risk of developing a SSI than patients who did not. Additionally, researchers found the only factor clearly associated with infection risk was the type of antibiotic patients received. "We hope our findings spark reconsideration of the language about penicillin allergy testing in the national guidelines. In the meantime, I would recommend that any patients with a history of allergy to penicil- lin or to cephalosporins — the antibiotic class that includes cefazolin — who are scheduled for surgery to ask their doctor whether an antibiotic would be needed and, if so, discuss a referral for an allergy evaluation in advance to increase their chances of getting the most effective anti- biotic," said senior author Erica Shenoy, MD, PhD, of MGH's division of infectious diseases and the infection control unit. n Can Boosting Patient Hand Hygiene Impact C. Diff Infection Rates? By Anuja Vaidya A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control exam- ined whether patient hand hygiene affected incidence of Clostridium difficile infection in a hospital setting. Researchers used patient surveys to analyze patient hand hygiene practices. They deter- mined the effect of hand hygiene practices on C. diff by following healthcare facility-on- set CD laboratory-identified events data analyzed using National Healthcare Safety Network standardized infection ratios. The study shows patient hand hygiene op- portunities improved significantly after staff and patient education. C. diff standardized infection ratios decreased significantly for 6 months after a hand hygiene intervention. "[Patient hand hygiene] should be consid- ered a relevant preventative measure for CDI in hospitalized patients," study authors concluded. n

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