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Timely education, tools and new resources about Swine Flu.

Tools
Pandemic Preparedness Tools Website
This Pandemic Preparedness site can help you plan for a pandemic outbreak. It includes:
  The Use of PPE
  Stock Pile Calculator

 

 
Education
Kimberly-Clark offers this accredited education module on the potential impact of a pandemic on medical facilities and personnel.
Influenza: A Seasonal and Pandemic Threat
Accredited for nurses (1.25 CEUs) and for physicians (1.25 CME credits)

This accredited education module discusses recommendations in the CDC’s Guidelines for Isolation Precautions: Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in Healthcare Settings.

Standard Precautions: Is staff really protected? Accredited for nurses (1.0 CEU).

Resources
Download literature in electronic PDF pamphlet and flyer format:
Professional Pamphlet Patient Pamphlet
Professional Flyer Patient Flyer

Track Swine Flu Trends as provided by Google Maps

Center for Disease Control’s Swine Flu Home Page

 

Kimberly-Clark offers solutions that are designed to prevent the transfer of contaminants from person to person within healthcare settings.For more information, click on the links below:

Kimberly-Clark* Surgical Gowns

Kimberly-Clark* Protective Apparel

Kimberly-Clark* Surgical Drapes

Kimberly-Clark* FacialProtection

Kimberly-Clark* PPE Dispensing Station

Kimberly-Clark* Exam Gloves

Kimberly-Clark* KimCare* Hand Sanitizer


Unfortunately even with the best of intentions, healthcare workers do not always wash and disinfect their hands as often as they should. This less than perfect hand hygiene performance can pose a serious risk to patients because as stated by Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), “Clean hands are the single most important factor in preventing the spread of dangerous germs and antibiotic resistance in healthcare settings.”1

While the use of gloves does not eliminate the need for hand hygiene, likewise, the use of hand hygiene does not eliminate the need for gloves. Gloves reduce hand contamination by 70 percent to 80 percent, prevent cross–contamination and protect patients and healthcare personnel from infection.

The importance of gloves, masks, and other personal protective apparel cannot be overestimated in preventing infection in healthcare settings. They, along with hand hygiene, are the first line of defense in preventing the spread of infection from person to person within healthcare settings.

 

1. http://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/pressrelease.htm
 


Clinical Education (CEs and CMEs)
  • A Bundle of Joy: Evidence-based Prevention of BSIs: Multi-Center Success
  • Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms - MDRO
  • MRSA: Time for Action
  • Using Personal Protective Equipment for Patient Protection: Making the Case for Contact Precautions Compliance
  • Coming Clean: An Essential for Reusable Medical Devices
  • Disinfection and Sterilization: New CDC/HICPAC Guidelines
  • Guess Who's Coming To Surgery (SSI)

    More Clinical Education...

    Resources & Tools
  • Guidance for Industry and FDA Staff - In Vitro Diagnostic 2009 H1N1 Tests for Use in the 2009 H1N1 Emergency (FDA)
  • CDC Swine Flu Brochure
  • Swine Flu CDC Keyfacts
  • Flyer - Patient's and Parent's Guide to Influenza Prevention
  • Flyer 2 - Patient's and Parent's Guide to Influenza Prevention
  • Flyer 2 - Guidelines for Preventing Influenza for Health Care Professionals
  • Flyer - Guidelines for Preventing Influenza - for Health Care Professionals
  • Handrub Poster - 11 x 17

    Read more Resources and Tools...

    Research & Reports
  • Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Colonization or Infection in Canada: National Surveillance and Changing Epidemiology, 1995–2007 (Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology)
         

    The overall incidence of both MRSA colonization and MRSA infection increased 17-fold in Canadian hospitals from 1995 to 2007. There has also been a dramatic increase in cases of community-associated MRSA infection due to the CMRSA-10 (USA300) clone. Continued surveillance is needed to monitor the ongoing evolution of MRSA colonization or infection in Canada and globally.

    Read More
  • Surgical Masks for Protection of Health Care Personnel against Pandemic Novel Swine-Origin Influenza A (H1N1)–2009: Results from an Observational Study (Clinical Infectious Diseases)
         
    Read More
  • SHEA Responds to Observational Study on Effectiveness of Surgical Masks in the Prevention of H1N1 Among Healthcare Workers (Infection Control Today)
         
    Read More
  • Commentary: A Call to Go Green in Health Care by Reprocessing Medical Equipment (Academic Medicine)
         

    Health care is one of the largest contributors to waste production in the United States. Given increased awareness of the environmental and financial costs associated with waste disposal and its public health impact, many hospitals are adopting environmentally friendly practices that reduce waste production and offer equally effective, yet less expensive alternatives. Reprocessing of medical equipment is one such practice that has gained popularity in recent years and has led to major cost savings across several medical disciplines. In this commentary, we seek to take a closer look at the practice of reprocessing, explore the evidence surrounding its safety, and suggest implications of reprocessing for medical centers.

    Read More
  • Effect of subinhibitory concentrations of benzalkonium chloride on the competitiveness of Pseudomonas aeruginosa grown in continuous culture (Microbiology)
         
    Read More
  • Clinical and Economic Outcomes Attributable to Health Care–Associated Sepsis and Pneumonia (Archives of Internal Medicine)
         

    In 2006, hospital-acquired pneumonia and sepsis took 48,000 lives in the U.S. and cost $8.1 billion. Patients who contracted sepsis following surgery were about 20 percent likely to die; stayed in the hospital an average 11 days longer; and cost $32,900 per patient. Hospital-acquired pneumonia patients, meanwhile, were about 11 percent likely to die; stayed in the hospital an average 14 days longer; and cost $46,400 per patient 

    Read More
  • Sustaining reductions in catheter related bloodstream infections in Michigan intensive care units: observational study (British Medical Journal)
         

    ICU catheter-related infections can be prevented, a Keystone ICU initiative that kept rates at nearly zero for three years in Michigan hospitals showed. By implementing low-tech measures such as removing unnecessary catheters and handwashing, the hospitals saw no rebound in catheter-related infections, Peter J. Pronovost of Johns Hopkins and colleagues reported online in British Medical Journal. The researchers found that in the first 18 months of their initiative, catheter-related infections dropped from an average of 7.7 per 1,000 catheter days to zero. Three years later, infection rates remained near zero, with an average of 1.1 per 1,000 catheter days. The results show that hospitals are mistaken in thinking these infections are inevitable, Pronovost said.

    Read More
  • Mandatory Influenza Vaccination of Health Care Workers: Translating Policy to Practice (Clinical Infectious Diseases)
         

    A policy requiring influenza vaccination improves immunization rates of health care workers, a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases found. The study, conducted by Hilary Babcock of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and colleagues, focused on BJC Healthcare, a Midwest multihospital health care system, which implemented a mandatory influenza vaccination policy for its 26,000 employees in 2008. The policy increased the system’s vaccination rate to 98 percent, compared with 71 percent in 2007 and 54 percent in 2006, the study said. These results reveal that such policies lead to extremely high vaccination coverage rates among health care workers, the researchers said.

    Read More

    Read more healthcare associated infection research and reports...
     
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