Bacteria, Handwashing, Consumer, HAIs, Cleaning Protocols, Patient Safety, Design, Outpatient/Ambulatory Facilities 2 min read. Healthcare-Associated Infections and Hemodialysis Erica Mitchell September 18 2024 More than 800,000 Americans live with end-stage kidney disease, and over half of them depend on dialysis as a necessary and life-sustaining... Read more
Bacteria, Science, Infection Control, Handwashing, HAIs, Patient Safety, Epidemiology, Ecology 3 min read. Disease Vectors and HAIs: Disease Door Dashers Erica Mitchell September 2 2024 New England has been put onhigh alert thanks to an outbreak of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), a rare virus that can lead to the deaths of 30% of... Read more
Handwashing 3 min read. HAL for Hand Hygiene: The Computers are Watching Erica Mitchell December 6 2023 In the sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, an omnipresent computer named HAL monitors all activity aboard a spacecraft on a critical mission. The... Read more
Events, Copper, Handwashing, Cleaning Protocols, Health & Wellness, COVID-19, Disinfectants 3 min read. Hygienic Home for the Holidays Erica Mitchell December 19 2022 Did everyone notice the uptick in respiratory illnesses (including COVID) that started about a week and a half after Thanksgiving? Many of us might... Read more
Contamination Statistics, Infection Control, Hospitals, Environmental Services, Handwashing, HAIs, Antibiotic Resistance, Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCFs), Special Populations, Disinfectants, MDROs 3 min read. We Now Return to Your Regularly Scheduled Pandemic: Hospital Associated Infections Erica Mitchell September 23 2022 In a widely-circulated interview, President Biden stated that the pandemic was, in effect, over. While not an official statement and also clarified... Read more
Infection Control, Handwashing, HAIs 2 min read. Hand Hygiene: The Latest Global Statistics Erica Mitchell August 8 2022 The general public has never been more aware of handwashing, thanks to the COVID pandemic. We all got a glimpse into the world of the healthcare... Read more
History, Hospitals, Handwashing, Germs, HAIs 2 min read. The Golden Age of Microbiology, Part 3 Erica Mitchell May 11 2022 Exploration of the Golden Age of Microbiology would not be complete without a look at how its discoveries impacted hospitals and medical care.... Read more
Handwashing 2 min read. New Years' Resolutions and Hand Hygiene: How To Make Changes Last Erica Mitchell January 19 2022 Today may not actually be "the saddest day in the year," but chances are, those of us who made New Years' resolutions may be starting to see some... Read more
Hospitals, Research, Handwashing, Cleaning Protocols 2 min read. The Hawthorne Effect: What happens when no one's watching? Erica Mitchell August 18 2021 In the 1920’s and 30’s, the nation was swept up in the Efficiency Movement, an effort to rid every aspect of human life of waste and unproductive... Read more
Hospitals, Handwashing, Germs, Antibiotic Resistance 2 min read. Is Antibacterial Soap the Same As Regular Soap? Erica Mitchell January 13 2021 A study demonstrated that regular soap has the same impact as antibacterial soap at killing bacterial during hand washing. Today we'll explore this... Read more
Handwashing 2 min read. Hands are Surfaces: When Do We Clean and When Do We Sanitize? Erica Mitchell March 18 2020 As awareness of the COVID-19 virus increased, Americans everywhere rushed out to (try to) buy hand sanitizer. All of us now know that washing our... Read more