HAIs: Major Heartache

by Erica Mitchell | February 12 2024

It's no wonder why we have long associated the heart with life and love. It races when we are nervous or exerting ourselves. It beats with comforting regularity, loud enough for us to hear when we rest our heads against a loved ones chest. Its pulse is an indicator of health and life, a central hub keeping our body functioning. And unfortunately, when this central hub is affected by an infection, the entire body is at risk. Today we will explore how hospital-acquired infections can affect the heart, often with far-reaching implications.

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How Can I Bring an Idea to Management?

by Erica Mitchell | February 12 2024

Over the past few posts, we have been looking at how ideas make their way to hospital decision-makers. Nurses play a crucial role in patient care, and their insights can lead to significant improvements within a healthcare facility. However, the way a nurse can bring those ideas to fruition is not always transparent.  If you're a nurse with an idea for enhancing patient outcomes, workflow efficiency, or overall hospital operations, here are some steps you can follow that may help you bring your ideas to hospital management.

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3 Technologies that Help Achieve Healthcare Equity

by Erica Mitchell | February 5 2024

One of the many concepts that have entered the public consciousness since the COVID-19 pandemic is the idea of healthcare equity. Issues of race are being brought up with respect to voting and education, but specifically within healthcare, the focus has been on access to quality medical care and equal treatment by medical professionals. In today's post, we'll look at some of the ways innovative technologies can help make healthcare more equitable.

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The Meaning of Clean: Sanitizers, Disinfectants, and Sterilizers

by Erica Mitchell | January 31 2024

CleanWhile the general population may use terms like sterilizer, disinfectant and sanitizer interchangeably, they actually have very specific definitions according to the government agency that regulates them, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These definitions include what percentage of pathogens must be killed, in what specific amount of time they must be killed, and what protocols must be tested to achieve registration. All of these parameters are defined by the EPA and are not chosen or designated by the manufacturer.

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Who Makes Decisions about Infection Prevention in a Private (Non-Government Owned) Hospital?

by Erica Mitchell | January 29 2024

Hospitals are the setting for countless decisions each day, decisions that impact patient outcomes, financial investments, community health and so much more. Decisions about the prevention of healthcare associated infections take place at all levels of a hospital hierarchy, from the environmental services cleaner to the Chief Executive Officer. In today’s post, we will look at who makes these critical decisions that impact patient safety, staff well-being, and the overall resilience of a healthcare system.


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Critically Clean: An In-Depth Look

by Erica Mitchell | January 24 2024

In earlier posts, we've examined the degree of cleanliness required for specific items as well as what the EPA requires to make claims about cleanliness. Today we will look at how the various items in a patient room are categorized to determine the required level and frequency of cleaning.

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Hospital Hierarchy: Who's Who?

by Erica Mitchell | January 22 2024

Probably no other organizational entity has the human resources complexity of a hospital. Healthcare facilities bring together not just medical professions, but also administration, marketing, financial, and social work professionals. This convergence results in a complex hierarchy which is difficult to nail down, varies by the facility, and can change based on difficult-to-pinpoint scenarios. As a result, a post about the hierarchy of a hospital has to be broad, but we will attempt to lay out the general levels of responsibility by focusing on decision-making areas at private care facilities. 


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The Chief Infection Prevention Officer: New Kid in the C-Suite?

by Erica Mitchell | January 15 2024

A recent article in Infection Control Today considered a C-suite position for infection prevention, its adoption nationwide, and its potential to improve patient outcomes long-term. In today's post, we'll provide a brief overview of what this new position means to those systems who have adopted it, but also examine how a C-suite position could transform the efficacy of infection prevention and control the way no other position has been able to accomplish through two critical functions: Access and authority.

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Hospital Acquired Infections and Hospitals Acquired by Private Equity: The Dangerous Correlation

by Erica Mitchell | January 8 2024

About a quarter of American hospitals are for-profit, that is, they are operated to generate profit for owners and stakeholders. A subsection of those hospitals, about 3%, have been acquired through private equity (PE) buyouts, whereby a PE firm raises funds to purchase a hospital. These PE transactions, also called "takeovers," are characteristically funded through leveraged debt - the firm takes out a loan secured by the purchased entity (the hospital), adding the burden of that debt to the balance sheet (and monthly expenses) of that facility. As a result, hospitals acquired by PE firms face additional pressures; they are operated not only to generate profit but also must repay large amounts of debt, used to fund the acquisition and now added to their balance sheet. A recent study looked into this subsection of hospitals to see how this added financial pressure impacted patient outcomes. The results? Patients are 25% more likely to be harmed by medical care at a private-equity acquired facility.

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A Pathogen for All Seasons: Seasonality in HAIs

by Erica Mitchell | January 3 2024

As those of us in the northern hemisphere transition from summer to winter, we will also be experiencing another shift in seasons, especially those of us who live and work in the field of infection control and prevention. Along with the end of warmer months is the end of the summer's favorite pathogens: Gram negative bacteria. And looming ahead in the winter? Cooler months' weapon of choice: Viruses like influenza. We'll explore seasonality in infection control and prevention in today's post.

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© EOS Surfaces and EOScu Blog, 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to EOS Surfaces and EOScu Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.