Tag: infection prevention

COVID-19 has forced substantial shifts in how dentists, and many professionals, work every day. Over the past year, dentists have had a chance to reexamine the way they practice and determine if those habits still make sense in the face of a threat like COVID-19. In a recent article, Dr. Lauren Patton reflects on the teachings of 2020. Read about the lessons she learned during the pandemic.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Network’s annual perspective summarizes COVID-19’s impact on patient safety and strategies for addressing these evolving challenges.

Dentists can further reduce the potential spread of COVID-19 in their practices by adjusting one tool: dental drills. A recent study found that changing how dentists use drills can limit the spread of aerosol particles in a room — hugely significant in the age of coronavirus.

The Joint Commission’s seven patient safety goals it says should be the prioritized by hospitals in the coming year.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is serious and deadly, but good oral healthcare can substantially reduce the likelihood that individuals connected to a mechanical ventilator contract VAP.

Due to high COVID-19 rates in nursing homes, CMS says it will increase enforcement for facilities with persistent infection control violations and impose enforcement actions for lower level infection control deficiencies.

New CDC recommendations can help physicians differentiate between vaping-related lung injury and influenza or respiratory infection.

A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report reinforces the growing threat of antibiotic resistance in the United States.

To address the shortage of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) Live, a drug used in treatment of bladder cancer, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) has issued interim infection control guidance permitting providers to treat multiple patients from the same single-use vial of BCG.

New courses from the CDC are part of a free curriculum that includes over 40 training modules designed to address both the technical and foundational elements of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevention.