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Check out DOH's updated Website
COVID 19 Outreach Partnerships Coordinator Recruitment
The HAI section, Strategic Partners Program, Special Projects Unit team is recruiting a COVID 19 Outreach and Partnership Coordinator (HSC3). Please see the job announcement for details. Questions may be directed to the Special Projects Unit supervisor, Bonita Campo.
Quarterly NHSN Workgroup Dates
The last NHSN Workgroup for 2022 meets on October 11th from 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. The 2023 dates are January 10th, April 11th, July 11th, and October 10th. Please contact Sandy Ng if you would like to receive an invitation.
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Now recruiting healthcare workers for virtual interviews!
On behalf of CDC’s Project Firstline, RTI International and The Henne Group are looking for healthcare workers to provide insights on infection control training materials and their healthcare experiences.
They are looking for insights from:
- Nurses
- Environmental service technicians
- Allied health professionals who deliver clinical care (such as CNAs, LPNs, LVNs, phlebotomists)
Eligible professions can work for:
- Hospitals
- Urgent care facilities
- Outpatient facilities
- Nursing homes or long-term care facilities
If you are interested, please complete the online form.
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COVID-19–Associated Mortality Risk Among Long-Term Care Facility Residents and Community-Dwelling Adults Aged ≥65 Years — Illinois, December 2020 and January 2022
U.S. adults aged ≥65 years are at increased risk for severe illness and death from COVID-19. The communal nature of long-term care facilities (LTCFs), and the vulnerability of the LTCF population (typically aged ≥65 years, and often having underlying chronic conditions, cognitive and physical impairments, immunocomprised status, or other disabilities) further increases risk for COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death in this group. Although multiple studies highlight these risks, there is limited information comparing the risk among LTCF residents with that in an age-comparable population living in the community. This report estimates the risk for death among LTCF residents by comparing COVID-19–associated mortality rates among LTCF residents aged ≥65 years and persons aged ≥65 years who are not LTCF residents (community-dwelling adults) in Illinois.
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5 Second Rule Podcast
For five decades, APIC has been a leading voice in the area of infection prevention and control. Listen as 2022 APIC President, Linda Dickey, and 1994 president and decades-long pioneering member, Barbara Russell, speak on the progression from the early days of infection prevention and control to the current-day focus on patient safety culture. What can we learn from the path already travelled and where will it lead? Listen to the podcast.
Communicating about nursing home care: Findings and Emerging Recommendations
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, as millions of Americans were quarantining in their homes and thousands of businesses had closed their doors, news outlets began to report on how the virus was affecting nursing homes. Accounts of families struggling to move their loved ones out of nursing homes and of care workers actively working, gripped the nation and granted nursing homes nearly unprecedented attention in the media and popular discourse. Research shows that, as of October 2021, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of nearly 200,000 people living and working in nursing homes—amounting to roughly one-third of the total death toll in the United States.
But while the pandemic may have put nursing homes in headlines, the problems affecting nursing homes, the residents they serve, and the care workers that staff them existed long before COVID-19. Rather, these issues—including systemic underfunding, ineffective regulation, and insufficient staffing—have long inhibited access to high-quality, affordable care that supports the wellbeing of an aging population. This moment prompted recognition of the need for a better conversation about nursing homes and nursing home care. Effectively communicating about nursing homes is crucial to generating public support for the structural reform necessary to bring about lifesaving changes in how nursing homes exist and operate—and to do that, we need to start by understanding how the public thinks about nursing homes right now. This brief offers takeaways about public perceptions of nursing homes as well as some initial recommendations for communicators.
AHRQ Releases Learning Modules for Nursing Homes on COVID-19 ID and Prevention
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released a series of three video learning modules for nursing homes on COVID-19. In the videos, nursing facility staff will learn the basics of the virus, when to report signs and symptoms in residents and how to stop the spread. Each video is under six minutes.
Frailty, gaps in care coordination, and preventable adverse events
This article discussed how frail older adults are at increased risk of adverse events including rehospitalization and overtreatment. In this study, researchers assessed the association of care coordination and preventable adverse events in frail older adults. Compared with non-frail older adults, frail older adults reported experiencing more adverse events they believed could have been prevented with better care coordination.
Tips for Retaining and Caring for Staff after a Disaster
This tip sheet assumes that a facility is operational after an event and that certain pre-planning and continuity of operations considerations are already in place. Here we share general promising practices—categorized by immediate and short-term needs—for facility executives to consider when trying to retain and care for staff after a disaster. This document was originally published in 2016 after significant flooding in Louisiana and has been updated to incorporate the challenges associated with retaining healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Advancing Research to Support Long-Term Care Workers
With support from JAHF and partners, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine began work on a comprehensive report examining the nation’s nursing homes—how they can be better operated, regulated, financed and staffed with the ultimate goal of improving care. The final report provides guidance on how to recruit, train and retain top talent in nursing homes, among other critical recommendations.
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National Updates
Updated recommended guidance for the use of PPE in nursing homes
CDC has released updated guidance for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in nursing homes to prevent the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP) are an infection control intervention designed to reduce transmission of MDROs through gown and glove use by nursing home staff. EBP are recommended during high contact care activities with residents who are at higher risk of acquiring or spreading an MDRO.
This updated guidance expands the use of EBP to include any residents of a nursing home with an indwelling medical device or wound, as well as residents with known infection or colonization with an MDRO. These updated recommendations are meant to protect nursing home residents and staff from spreading MDROs, which can cause serious and hard to treat infections, while avoiding restrictions on resident activities or a need for private rooms, unlike with Contact Precautions.
Additional information and supplemental resources to support implementation of EBP are available at the below links.
Guidance:
FAQs:
Resources:
COVID-19 & Antibiotic Resistance
CDC has released the most comprehensive analysis to date on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antimicrobial-resistant (AR) infections in the United States. This analysis finds significant surges in AR infections and antibiotic use in hospitals during the first year of the pandemic. These surges reflect a reversal of progress noted in the 2019 AR Threats Report, which previously showed a reduction of AR deaths by 18% overall from 2012 to 2017.
CDC panel recommends US seniors get souped-up flu vaccines
In an article posted by the Associated Press, a federal advisory panel recommends that Americans 65 and older should get newer, souped-up flu vaccines because regular shots don’t provide them enough protection. The panel unanimously recommended certain flu vaccines that might offer more or longer protection for seniors, whose weakened immune systems don’t respond as well to traditional shots.
Risk for Asymptomatic Household Transmission of Clostridioides difficile Infection Associated with Recently Hospitalized Family Members
This article evaluates whether hospitalized patients without diagnosed Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) increased the risk for CDI among their family members after discharge. Using 2001–2017 US insurance claims data to compare monthly CDI incidence between persons in households with and without a family member hospitalized in the previous 60 days. CDI incidence among insurance enrollees exposed to a recently hospitalized family member was 73% greater than enrollees not exposed, and incidence increased with length of hospitalization among family members. A dose-response relationship was identified between total days of within-household hospitalization and CDI incidence rate ratio. Compared with persons whose family members were hospitalized <1 day, the incidence rate ratio increased from 1.30 (95% CI 1.19–1.41) for 1–3 days of hospitalization to 2.45 (95% CI 1.66–3.60) for >30 days of hospitalization. Asymptomatic C. difficile carriers discharged from hospitals could be a major source of community-associated CDI cases.
CDC Investing in the Next Generation of Prevention and Response in U.S.
This article highlights how the past two years have been an extraordinary time for the U.S. healthcare system and public health. Many healthcare facilities and healthcare workers were pushed to the brink—facing incredible hurdles during the COVID-19 pandemic, including increased patient caseload, staffing challenges, and other operational changes. As the pandemic unfolded, one thing became abundantly clear: the pandemic re-emphasized the critical importance of infection prevention and control in healthcare facilities in keeping patients and healthcare personnel safe.
NHSN Revises Up to Date Vaccination Definition
A new up-to-date vaccination definition was one of several changes announced by NHSN as part of this recent update.
CMS NEWS: CMS Issues Significant Updates to Improve the Safety and Quality Care for Long-Term Care Residents and Calls for Reducing Room Crowding
As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s initiative to promote the safety and quality of nursing home care across the country, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued updates to guidance on minimum health and safety standards that Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities (often called “nursing homes”) must meet to participate in Medicare and Medicaid. CMS also updated and developed new guidance in the State Operations Manual (SOM) to address issues that significantly affect residents of LTC facilities. The surveyors who use these resources to perform both routine and complaint-based inspections of nursing homes are responsible for determining whether facilities are complying with CMS’ requirements. A fact sheet on the new and updated guidance for nursing home resident health and safety is available.
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