All Entries Tagged With: "H1N1"
APIC urges healthcare facilities to require staff vaccinations
More news about the flu today- whether that’s H1N1 or the seasonal flu.
The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) urged healthcare organizations to mandate that staff members in direct contact with patients be vaccinated during the upcoming flu season. The group made its recommendation earlier this week as predictions continued to surface about the number of Americans who may be infected with the H1N1 virus during the upcoming flu season. Last week a presidential panel estimated that up to half of the U.S. population could become infected, and 1.8 million people could be hospitalized, resulting in up to 90,000 deaths. APIC issued a similar recommendation during the 2008-2009 flu season.
APIC issued a similar recommendation during the 2008-2009 flu season. Currently rates of healthcare provider vaccination hover at the 42% mark, which has not budged much in the last ten years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as APIC, recommend that all healthcare workers in direct contact with patients get a flu vaccination as a means of keeping patients safe. Some staff members employed at private organizations see mandatory vaccination requirements as infringements on privacy.
Has your facility decided to take the “mandatory flu vaccination for employees” rotue? How do you and your fellow staff members feel about this policy?
Vote for your favorite flu prevention commercial in HHS contest
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently put out a call for entries into its contest for a new public service announcement about preventing the spread of the flu. Now you can vote once a day on your favorite commercial out of the finalists chosen by HHS’ expert panel. Some of the clips are funny, some are straight and to the point, but all of them touch on the basics of infection prevention–namely by handwashing and practicing safe sneezing and coughing techniques. Some of the commercials also recommend that viewers get vaccinated for the flu. The commercials are not specifically for preventing the spread of H1N1, but various strains of the flu. Health officials expect the seasonal flu and H1N1 to together pack a decent sized punch–the WHO expects that within two years, one third of the world’s population will have caught the H1N1 virus. Certainly the messages contained in these videos could apply to preventing both types of the flu (although currently, only certain sectors of the population are being flagged to receive the H1N1 vaccine).
Voters have until September 16 to visit HHS’ YouTube channel and click the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” icons on each of the finalists. The winner of the contest receives a $2,500 prize! This is a great way to get your fellow staff members into reminding patients about flu prevention techniques. So, vote on your favorite, mine is the clip below. Although it’s a serious topic, I think that humor usually connects viewers with a subject more so than just straight facts.
Joint Commission sets new challenge for 2009-2010 flu season
In a follow up to its first ever successful Flu Vaccination Challenge, the Joint Commission has launched another challenge for the upcoming 2009-2010 flu season. The goal of the Flu Vaccination Challenge was to increase vaccination among healthcare workers to a rate of 43% or higher. That rate was based on a survey of healthcare workers from 2005-2006 about flu vaccination rates. Today the results of last season’s challenge were announced and 94% of participating hospitals met the goal, with 1.1 million healthcare workers being vaccinated.
For the next Flu Vaccination Challenge, The Joint Commission is asking healthcare facilities to push their staff members to be vaccinated at rates of 60,75, 0r 90%, depending on the vaccination rate for the facility was during the 2008-2009 season. The challenge is also being extended this year to healthcare workers in long term care and ambulatory settings.
The Centers for Disease Control recommends that all healthcare workers be vaccinated for the seasonal flu.
I’m curious- did any of your facilities participate in this challenge? How did you encourage your staff members to get vaccinated? The challenge is only for the seasonal flu, as opposed to the H1N1 virus, but I wonder if any sort of requirements concerning H1N1 vaccination will be addressed in the future?
You can find out more about this year’s challenge at www.fluvaccinationchallenge.com.
Stanford Hospital trials drive-through ED
Saw this article in the Wall Street Journal Health Blog on Friday, thought it would make for some good Monday morning discussion. Stanford Hospital in California has tried out a drive-through emergency department (ED). The test was to see how treating patients in their cars would work, the thought being that if a pandemic or bio-terrorist attack occurs, keeping contagious patients away from the rest of the hospital’s population would reduce the likelihood of transmission.
In June, the hospital conducted a pilot test during which 50 fake patients drove up and were treated in their cars. The test worked–in fact patients’ wait times were cut by 1.5 hours. and doctors reported that they were able to adequately treat patients. Patients who were very sick would be treated first, and patients were kept aware of wait times by tuning into a radio station in the area. The hospital said it would use this method if a great number of patients come down with H1N1.
I thought this idea was kind of kooky at first, but it does make sense for preventing the spread of the flu. Would your hospital ever consider orchestrating something like this?
WHO publishes checklist for treating patients with H1N1
Although H1N1 has not been prominently featured on this blog, this checklist from the World Health Organization (WHO) caught my eye because it goes over important infection control and prevention techniques that should be used with every possible H1N1 patient that enters your facility. The WHO Patient Care Checklist: new influenza A (H1N1) released last month by the WHO, can be modified to fit any local practices your facility has also incorporated into treating flu patients. It was tested at facilities around the globe, including Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA.
For development of the checklist, the WHO sought advice from experts in:
- infection control
- clinical management of pandemic-prone Influenza
- health care checklists
To read more about the checklist, and to find a version written in Spanish, click here to go to the WHO’s Web site.
CNN is reporting that a vaccine for H1N1 will be made available in the U.S. by October. Today, secretary of health and human services Kathleen Sebelius spoke at a “flu summit” mandated by the Obama administration in an effort to launch a national campaign about H1N1. Experts worry that the flu will spread faster once the fall hits and the normal flu season begins.
To read more about today’s summit, click here.
Has your hospital struggled to prepare for an influx of H1N1 cases? Do you anticipate more training in the future?
