American journal of infection control
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Am J Infect Control · Oct 2012
Mandatory influenza vaccination of health care workers: a first-year success implementation by a community health care system.
Poudre Valley Health System is a private, not-for-profit health care system of more than 5,300 employees. Poudre Valley Health System increased its influenza vaccination coverage rate among health care workers from 68% in 2009 to 95.5% in 2010 after implementing a mandatory influenza vaccination program.
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Am J Infect Control · Oct 2012
Adoption of policies to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections in United States intensive care units.
Little is known about whether recommended strategies to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) are being implemented in intensive care units (ICU) in the United States. ⋯ Little attention is currently placed on CAUTI prevention in ICUs in the United States. Further research is needed to elucidate relationships between adherence to CAUTI prevention recommendations and CAUTI incidence rates.
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Am J Infect Control · Oct 2012
Quantification of anesthesia providers' hand hygiene in a busy metropolitan operating room: what would Semmelweis think?
Hand hygiene (HH) is poor in the health care environment representing a major public health concern. HH compliance is poorly studied in anesthesia providers who contribute extensively to nosocomial infection. The rate of HH opportunities and compliance by these providers was studied using embedded, clandestine observers. We aimed to quantify HH behaviors and taxonomize failures. ⋯ HH was very poor among anesthesia providers. The task density of anesthesia care may conspire with an intrinsic HH failure rate to create great opportunity for horizontal and vertical vectors for nosocomial infection. Our observations have led to aggressive educational and ergonomic interventions at our facility. Given the task density of anesthesia care, and the observed failure rates, novel approaches to HH should be investigated.
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Am J Infect Control · Oct 2012
Assessing the quality of the peer review process: author and editorial board member perspectives.
Because peer review is central to the publication of rigorous research, periodic assessment of the process's effectiveness is clearly warranted. ⋯ This survey of authors and Board members provided important insights into perceptions of the peer review process and identified areas for improvement.