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Partners for Patient Safety: Early Detection and Infection Prevention
Partners for Patient Safety: Early Detection and Infection Prevention is a partnership between CDC, state and local public health, and healthcare facilities to perform proactive screening for targeted multidrug resistant organisms such as Candida auris and carbapenemase-producing organisms in order to prevent spread in healthcare. The guidance on proactive screening in high acuity long term care facilities such as long-term acute care hospitals (LTACH) and ventilator capable skilled nursing facilities (V-SNF) was recently updated. The new guidance promotes admission screening for all patients admitted to LTACHs, all residents admitted to the ventilator unit of V-SNFs, and residents with a chronic indwelling medical device admitted to a family home providing ventilator care.
 We encourage local public health to contact these facilities to promote admission screening. Facilities wanting to being should work with their LHJ to learn how to perform screening and obtain supplies. Contact the MDRO team for questions.
Long-Term Care Infection Prevention Empower Hour
Starting in March, APIC Puget Sound and DOH will host monthly infection prevention education calls for LTC settings such as nursing homes and SNFs. Sign up to enhance your infection prevention knowledge and stay ahead in protecting residents and staff with the latest infection prevention strategies. More information is available on the Empower Hour flyer - please share widely and register today!
Provider Alert: Subtyping of Influenza A in Recommended for Hospitalized Patients
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Advisory recommending influenza A testing for all hospitalized patients with suspected influenza and also recommending expedited subtyping for influenza A-positive specimens.
The complete Provider Alert is available for your review.
Infection Preventionists with questions, please email the Flu Team or the Epi Team.
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Infection Prevention and Control |
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Antimicrobial Stewardship |
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Resources for All Antimicrobial Stewards
New from WA DOH: The 2024 Annual Antimicrobial Stewardship Report
The annual report summarizes the WADOH team's stewardship efforts in 2024, highlighting key programs and antibiotic use across acute care, long-term care, and outpatient settings.
Acute Care Stewardship Resources
Reminder – NHSN Patient Safety Annual Hospital Survey is due March 1st!
We encourage stewards to be involved in the completion of the annual survey so they can get credit for all their hard work! You can access the questions (q. 41-52) and send your answers to your NHSN facility administrator. If you have questions about how to answer the questions check out the instructions.
Join the NHSN Antibiotic Use (AU) User’s Group
Acute Care Hospitals in Washington are invited to join DOH’s NHSN AU User's Group, which aims to support hospitals in utilizing their NHSN AU data effectively. Participants will gain valuable insights into generating reports in NHSN, analyzing and interpreting antimicrobial use data, and ultimately improving antimicrobial stewardship practices within their facilities. Facilities participating in the User’s Group are granted access to an interactive dashboard for benchmarking data against other hospitals, facilitating continuous quality improvement efforts. Register today!
Long-Term Care Stewardship Resources
Reminder – NHSN Long-term Care Facility Annual Facility Survey is due March 1st!
The WADOH antimicrobial stewardship team uses the survey results to find and advocate for where resources are necessary. The survey can be completed in the survey tab and instructions are available.
Free Patient Communication CE for Nurses and Medical Assistants
This activity is designed to improve communication skills around antibiotic use to help avoid inappropriate prescribing. The activity offers free CE credits for both nurses and medical assistants and is based on the CDC’s 4-part Communication Strategy.
Join the Skilled Nursing Facility Antimicrobial Stewardship (SNF AMS) Collaborative!
Enhance your antimicrobial stewardship expertise and skills through WA DOH’s SNF AMS Collaborative. The collaborative will run from September 2024 – May 2025, and will consist of monthly 45-min sessions. Each session will include a concise presentation, hands-on activities, and Q&A. Benefits of participation include improved antibiotic use and survey readiness. Earn a certificate upon completion, demonstrating your enhanced stewardship expertise. Learn more and register today!
Free Stewardship Resources for Consultant Pharmacists
WA DOH is offering to provide the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists' Antimicrobial Stewardship Toolkit for free to consultant pharmacists providing services at long-term care facilities in Washington State. The toolkit offers practical guidance for starting, growing, and maintaining an antimicrobial program, ensuring compliance with CMS Long-Term Care regulations. Learn more and register today!
Outpatient Stewardship Resources
New! Playbook for New Infection Preventionists in Outpatient Settings
The intent of this Playbook is to provide a quick reference for Infection Preventionists (IPs) in Washington state who are new to working in the outpatient setting. Chapter 7 offers practical suggestions for how new IPs can be involved in stewardship.
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Washington 2023 Annual HAI Report
The NHSN Epidemiology Team publishes the Annual Healthcare-associated Infection (HAI) Report to summarize the performance of Washington acute care hospitals (ACHs) during that year. This report aims to provide data about the quality of hospital care in Washington, monitor prevention progress, and compare HAI incidences to national averages and targets.
The 2023 Annual Report was recently published and is available through the NHSN Epidemiology and Reporting webpage, or access the report directly. This report contains information on statewide and facility-specific data on the five required HAIs reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) by ACHs throughout Washington in 2023. ACHs are required to track and report these HAIs by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Washington State law:
- Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI)
- Central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI)
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Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI)
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia
- Surgical site infections (SSI) related to colon surgeries (COLO) and abdominal hysterectomies (HYST)
SIR Comparison between Washington and the National Average
The table below is a compilation of several tables within the 2023 annual report, comparing the statewide SIR for each reportable HAI with the national average. This table shows a symbol comparing Washington and national performance, the number of observed and predicted infections for the year, the Washington and national SIR averages for each reportable HAI, and the SIR confidence interval. A legend explaining the performance symbols can be found under the table. For more information, the full tables and additional context can be found in the HAI sections of the Annual Report.
In 2023, Washington ACHs only performed significantly better than the national average for MRSA bacteremia, with an SIR 24% lower than the national average. Washington ACHs performed significantly worse than the national average for CAUTI and CDI.
 *Legend
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New Module Now Live!
The PFL “Injection Safety” module is now available to all. Injection safety is vital to health care and preventing HAIs. This module is perfect for training staff as it is concise, interactive, and easily accessible (mobile friendly with start/stop/return ability). At the end of our Injection Safety module, a pocket aid is provided to serve as a reminder after the course.
Sign up now and complete this free module!
Don't forget about our other resources!
Project Firstline offers several training and education opportunities to help you out during onboarding, annual training, and continuing education! See how one of the following programs can help you out today!
Sign up for our Project Firstline Quarterly Newsletter to stay up to date on the latest information!
Interactive online training modules: Available for CE/CNEs at no cost! Topics range from hand hygiene, respiratory droplets, to enhanced barrier precautions.
Text Messages: Short, weekly text messages on important infection prevention topics. Text “JoinWAIPC” to 59309.
Podcasts: Short podcast episodes ranging from basic infection prevention topics to IP in different settings to an antimicrobial stewardship mini-series.
Go to our website for more WA Project Firstline information and resources!
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Occupational Health Support
The Occupational Health (OH) team is part of the Strategic Partners Program in the Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antibiotic Resistance, Washington State Department of Health. The OH team provides training and consultation outreach to Long-term Care (LTC) facilities in Washington. In 2024, the OH team held several trainings including fit test conductor training webinars, educational trainings on various Respiratory Protection Program requirements, and Lunch and Learn sessions focused on respiratory protection topics. During 2024, our team conducted online trainings from January through July, and the Lunch and Learn sessions went through December.
The table below summarizes the services provided:
 *Data represent the number of facilities with at least one outreach service.
This table summarizes OH team outreach by type of LTC facility:
 *Data represent the number of facilities with at least one outreach service.
In addition, we also tabled at two conferences, gave presentations for other state partners, and provided monthly respirator program-related trainings for the Adult Family Home Council.
For 2025, though we no longer offer onsite training or fit tester training webinars, we will continue our Lunch and Learn sessions, information/consultation outreach, and will continue collaborating with our partners.
Join us twice a month for our Lunch & Learn sessions held on the first and third Wednesday of every month. Visit our Respiratory Protection Program website for topics. Lunch and Learn sessions are from 12pm to 12:30pm.
Register for our Lunch and Learn!
Visit our website for more information or send us an email!
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National Healthcare and Safety Network (NHSN) |
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Bimonthly NHSN User Group for Hospitals
Join us for the NHSN Hospital User Group calls. We will host these calls every other month. Please register in advance for this call series. Upcoming meetings are as follows.
- Mar 11, 2025, at 10:30 AM
- May 13, 2025 at 10:30AM
Please reach out to the NHSN Epi Team if you have any questions or have topic ideas for any of the calls.
Monthly Long-Term Care NHSN User Group
Please note there is a new Zoom Meeting registration link for 2025 monthly calls and previous registrants will need to re-register.
You are invited to register for the monthly NHSN skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) forum to share and, collaborate, improve reporting accuracy, and increase user knowledge. Calls are scheduled for the second Thursday of the month, 11:00 a.m. – noon. Upcoming meetings are as follows:
- Mar 13, 2025
- Apr 10, 2025
- May 8th, 2025
Please reach out to the NHSN Epi Team for more information.
NHSN Support Services for SNFs
For a more comprehensive list of NHSN support options the HAI Epi Team can provide to skilled nursing facilities, see the NHSN Support and Technical Assistance for Skilled Nursing Facilities flyer.
NHSN Reporting Updates and Trainings
NHSN Healthcare Personnel Safety (HPS) Component
Annual HCP Influenza Vaccination Summary Data Requirement
Review and collect cumulative influenza vaccination status for all staff employed during the 2024-2025 influenza season (Oct 1- Mar 31).
Schedule data upload in April, after end of flu season. Only one data form needs to be submitted by May 15, 2025 deadline in the (HPS) Component.
Training slides and instructions are available on website.
NHSN LTCF Component: Respiratory Pathogens and Vaccination Updates
Please review the changes for 2025 Respiratory Pathogens and Vaccination (RPV) reporting in the LTCF training slides.
Familiarize yourself with the instructions for the weekly Resident RPV summary.
Please consider continuing to submit Staff vaccinations on a weekly basis to ensure reporting is not overlooked. Otherwise, if reporting one week a month, plan ahead and schedule a consistent reporting week. Review the instructions for Healthcare Personnel for more information.
The up-to-date definition for each quarter can be found here: Understanding Key Terms and Up to Date Vaccination.
NHSN Epidemiology Email
The NHSN Epidemiology Team has a dedicated inbox. Please email the EPI team for any NHSN related questions, issues, or concerns. This will allow our team to respond to your message in a timely manner.
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Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) |
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Puget Sound Chapter
The Puget Sound Region APIC chapter meets on the fourth Thursday of every month from noon to 2:00 p.m.
- We review important legislative updates, IPC news, and educational opportunities.
- Journal club and round table discussions keep IPs up-to-date on recent activity in the IPC field, as well as connect with local IPs.
Register in advance for meetings. Links to registration sites can be found on our social media and website a few weeks prior.
APIC Podcasts:
AJIC Monthly Podcast
New Episode:
Recent Episodes:
Tune in the first Thursday of each month for new episodes.
APIC Monthly 5 Second Rule Podcast
Recent Episodes:
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WA DOH Influenza Update for Week 5 now available!
The weekly summary is available.
State Summary
- Influenza-like illness activity was very high during week 5.
- To date, 104 lab-confirmed influenza deaths have been reported for the 2024-2025 season.
- To date, 116 influenza-like illness outbreaks in long term care facilities have been reported for the 2024-2025 season.
- During week 5, 7.6 percent of visits among Influenza-like Illness Network (ILINet) participants were for influenza-like illness, which was above the baseline of 2.1 percent.
- During week 5, 28.7 percent of specimens tested by WHO (World Health Organization) and NREVSS (National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System) collaborating laboratories in Washington were positive for influenza.
- Influenza A and Influenza B were reported to the ILINet surveillance system during week 5.
Historic influenza reports
DOH creates influenza reports for healthcare providers and public health including:
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Penicillin Allergy Management Course
SHEA and CDC have launched a new course, “Penicillin Allergy Management - Removing Barriers to Optimal Antibiotic Prescribing.” In this course, learners will gain experience in penicillin allergy history taking, risk assessment using validated instruments, penicillin allergy testing, and de-labeling. This course provides 2 hours of complementary CE for physicians and pharmacists, regardless of SHEA membership.
Introductory Training on MDRO Prevention & Response Activities
All three webinar recordings from the “Introduction to MDRO Prevention & Response Activities” training series are now posted to SharePoint. If you haven’t yet, sign up for the training mailing list to be notified of training opportunities. Questions? Please contact the CDC HAIAR team.
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Leveraging local public health to advance antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) implementation and mitigate antimicrobial resistance (AMR): a scoping review
In this article, researchers explore the role of local public health organizations in antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance.
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