All Entries Tagged With: "infection control"
And we thought doctors’ ties were dirty
Who knew we should be washing our cell phones? According to a recent study in the Annals of Clinical Macrobiology (reports ABCNews.com), cell phones can–and frequently are–covered in bacteria.
Researchers at Ondokuz Mayis University in Samsun, Turkey tested employee cell phones to discover the following alarming statistic: 94.5 percent of the phones they tested were contaminated with bacteria.
Worse yet–some of these phones were contaminated with drug-resistant “superbugs.”
We’ve known for a while now that certain everyday objects that are not washed or cleaned every day–lab coats and ties, for example–can house bacteria and help it move around the hospital. But how many hospitals are screening cell phones? Is yours? If so, how do you screen phones? What sorts of policies do you have in place to maintain this practice?
Working group calls: Save the date
Our next round of working group calls are coming up this month. This time around we’ll be talking about infection control issues. Jodi Eisenberg will facilitate the first call, 2/24, at 2:30 pm EST (1:30 Central, 11:30 Pacific). We’d like to welcome Marsha Barnden, MSN, RNC, an infection control expert and former Joint Commission surveyor, who will facilitate the second call on 2/26 (12:30 EST, 11:30 Central, 9:30 Pacific).
We’re looking forward to an active, lively discussion both days. Hope you can join us!
Last chance to participate in the latest AHAP survey!
Last week an invitation went out to all AHAP members inviting you to participate in our latest benchmarking survey. This quarter we’re taking a look at infection control and related National Patient Safety Goals. We’ll be closing the survey soon in order to put together our quarterly benchmarking report, but if you’d still like to participate, all you have to do is click here and you’ll be taken directly to the survey.
Not an AHAP member but interested in our quarterly benchmarking surveys? Sign up here!
Members–we’re already looking ahead at next quarter’s benchmarking survey. What topics are you most interested in? Comment below, or feel free to shoot me an email directly.
