American journal of infection control
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Am J Infect Control · Jun 2000
Association between implementation of CDC recommendations and ventilator-associated pneumonia at selected US hospitals.
To assess whether selected recommendations in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "Guideline for Prevention of Nosocomial Pneumonia" were being implemented and having an impact on the occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) at US hospitals, we surveyed hospitals participating in the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) system. ⋯ Most NNIS hospitals had implemented selected recommendations in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "Guideline for Prevention of Nosocomial Pneumonia" before the final publication of the revised guideline. Further studies are needed to assess the impact of these recommendations on the occurrence of VAP.
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Am J Infect Control · Jun 2000
Hospital safety climate and its relationship with safe work practices and workplace exposure incidents.
In the industrial setting, employee perceptions regarding their organization's commitment to safety (i.e., safety climate) have been shown to be important correlates to both the adoption and maintenance of safe work practices and to workplace injury rates. However, safety climate measures specific to the hospital setting have rarely been evaluated. This study was designed to develop a short and effective tool to measure hospital safety climate with respect to institutional commitment to bloodborne pathogen risk management programs and to assess the relationship between hospital safety climate and (1) employee compliance with safe work practices and (2) incidents of workplace exposure to blood and other body fluids. ⋯ Hospital safety climate with regards to bloodborne pathogens can be measured by using a short, 20-question scale that measures 6 separate dimensions. Whereas all 6 dimensions are essential elements of overall safety climate, 3 dimensions are significantly correlated with compliance, and 1 dimension (senior management support) is especially significant with regard to both compliance and exposure incidents. This short safety climate scale can be a useful tool for evaluating hospital employees' perceptions regarding their organization's bloodborne pathogens management program. In addition, because this scale measures specific dimensions of the safety climate, it can be used to target problem areas and guide the development of intervention strategies to reduce occupational exposure incidents to blood and other body fluids.
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Am J Infect Control · Apr 2000
Improved tuberculosis infection control practices in Maryland acute care hospitals.
In 1992 and 1993, the Maryland Hospital Association and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene conducted 2 surveys of tuberculosis prevention practices in Maryland hospitals that showed poor compliance with the 1990 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines for preventing transmission of tuberculosis in health care facilities. ⋯ The survey results demonstrate excellent compliance with the 1994 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for tuberculosis control in Maryland acute care hospitals, even in those facilities determined to be at minimal to low risk for tuberculosis exposure. The proposed Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations are unlikely to further reduce the risk of tuberculosis exposure to health care workers in Maryland acute care hospitals.
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Am J Infect Control · Apr 2000
Critical care bug team: a multidisciplinary team approach to reducing ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Ventilator-associated pneumonia rates in the medical-surgical intensive care unit first exceeded the 90th percentile in September 1997 and were significantly (P <.05) higher than National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System pooled mean data. In January 1998, a multidisciplinary "Critical Care Bug Team" was developed by the Infection Control Committee to review 1997 National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System data for four adult intensive care units in a 583-bed tertiary care hospital. ⋯ This study illustrates the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary team approach devised to reduce and stabilize ventilator-associated pneumonia rates in a medical-surgical intensive care unit.