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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

 

To address risk factors that are known contributors to surgical site infections, Kimberly Clark offers solutions that are designed to:

• maintain patient core temperature
• reduce contamination of the surgical site due to skin flora throughout the surgical procedure
• provide barriers to prevent transfer of contaminants from person to person and to protect a
• surgical wound from contamination
• maintain sterility of surgical instruments prior to use for surgery For more information, click on the links below:


InteguSeal

Patient Warming

Sterilization Packaging

Instrument Care

Surgical Gowns

Surgical Drapes

Protective Apparel

Facial Protection


Surgical site infections (SSIs) initiated during invasive procedures can require additional and/or extended treatment. Despite the best efforts of healthcare facilities to maintain safe surgical environments, surgical site infections result in up to $10 billion in treatment costs every year in the U.S. alone.

  • 780,000 out of 30 million surgical procedures performed annually in the U.S. result in SSI.1
  • In the United Kingdom, the estimated direct costs for a patient who has developed a surgical site infection are between €2,265 and €2,518.2
  • According to a study in the Netherlands, SSIs result in 5.8 to 17 extra days of hospitalization.3
  • In France, approximately 11% of surgical patients acquire a surgical site infection.4

Some common causes of SSI are:

  • Complications from surgical hypothermia
  • Contamination of the incision area by skin flora
  • Bacterial cross–contamination
  • Surgical instrument contamination

1 Cook, R. “Hospitals learn simple, cheap steps can prevent infections,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 18, 2004; F1.
2 Coello R, Glenister H, Fereres J, Bartlett C, Leigh D, Sedgwick J, et al. The cost of infection in surgical patients: a case–control study. J Hosp Infect 1993; 24(4):239–50., and Plowman R, Graves N, Griffin MA, Roberts JA, Swan AV, Cookson, B, et al. The rate and cost of hospital–acquired infections occurring in patients admitted to selected specialties of a district general hospital in England and the national burden imposed. J Hosp Infect 2001; 47(3):198–209.
3 Geubbels EL, Mintjes–de Groot AJ, Van den Berg JM, de Boer AS. An operating surveillance system of surgical site infections in the Netherlands: results of the PREZIES national surveillance network. Preventie van Ziekenhuisinfecties door Surveillance. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2000; 21 (5): 107.
4 Source: Prevalence of nosocomial infections in France; results of the nationwide survey in 1996. Journal of Hospital Infection. 2000; 46:186–193


Clinical Education (CEs and CMEs)
  • SCIP: Surgical Care Improvement Project
  • Preventing Pressure Ulcers in the Surgical Patient (Study Guide)
  • The Clinical Issue #1: Pressure Ulcers in the Surgical Patient
  • Webinar – Thermal Regulation: Implications for the Complex Surgical Patient
  • Guess Who's Coming To Surgery
  • Roundtable Discussion: New Opportunities for Reducing Risk of Surgical Site Infection
  • New Non-Pharmacologic Opportunities to Reduce the Risk of Surgical Site Infections
  • Preventing Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure Surgery

    More Clinical Education...

    Resources & Tools
  • Preventing Pressure Ulcers in the Surgical Patient (Study Guide)
  • The Clinical Issue #1: Pressure Ulcers in the Surgical Patient
  • CDC Hand Hygiene Guidelines
  • SSI Cost of Infection Savings Calculator
  • Patient Risk Factors and Best Practices for Surgical Site Infection Prevention.
  • Prevent Surgical Site Infections.
  • Pressure Ulcers In The Surgical Patient.
  • Cleaning Reusable Medical Devices: A Critical First Step

    Read more Resources and Tools...

    Research & Reports
  • Clinical and Financial Outcomes Due to Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Surgical Site Infection: A Multi-Center Matched Outcomes Study (PLosOne)
         

    The attributable impact of S. aureus and methicillin-resistance on outcomes of surgical patients is substantial. Preventing a single case of SSI due to MRSA can save hospitals as much as $60,000.

    Read More
  • Chlorhexidine–Alcohol versus Povidone–Iodine for Surgical-Site Antisepsis (New England Journal of Medicine)
         

    Preoperative cleansing of the patient's skin with chlorhexidine–alcohol is superior to cleansing with povidone–iodine for preventing surgical-site infection after clean-contaminated surgery.

    Read More
  • Preventing Surgical-Site Infections in Nasal Carriers of Staphylococcus aureus (New England Journal of Medicine)
         

    The number of surgical-site S. aureus infections acquired in the hospital can be reduced by rapid screening and decolonizing of nasal carriers of S. aureus on admission.

    Read More
  • Statin Use and the Risk of Surgical Site Infections in Elderly Patients Undergoing Elective Surgery (Archives of Surgery)
         

    Research led by Nick Daneman of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto found that statin use was not linked with an elevated risk of surgical site infection in elderly patients. The study of 469,349 patients found an infection rate of 8.9 percent among statin patients, compared with 8.7 percent in non-statin patients

    Read More
  • Impact of intraoperative behavior on surgical site infections (The American Journal of Surgery)
         

    The aim of this study was to identify intraoperative risk factors for surgical site infections (SSIs), which are accessible to interventions. We evaluated the effect of extensive intraoperative antiseptic measures and the impact of the behavior of members of the surgical team on SSIs.

    Read More
  • Reduced risk of surgical site infections through surveillance in a network
         
    Read More
  • Consequences of Hypothermia
         
    Read More
  • Maintaining Intraoperative Normothermia: A Meta-analysis of Outcomes with Costs
         
    Download PDF

    Read more healthcare associated infection research and reports...
     
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