Have you ever walked out of a restaurant after a filling meal with an empty feeling in your stomach? I have. It is the feeling one gets after eating sushi without wasabi, Korean food without kimchi, and...
Staff hold party for germ-busting robot named Nikki
By
Christine R. Kovach
May 31, 2017
In 2015, the housekeeping and infection control team at Ovation Communities in Milwaukee, WI, were introduced to a new member of the team: a 3 ½-foot robot named Nikki—a word that means “to clean”...
Interoperability is more important than ever
Sep 30, 2016
While hospital administrators or doctors may say that a note is a note, an assessment is an assessment, or a chart is a chart, they aren’t acknowledging the uniqueness of the post-acute care environment—for...
Triclosan hand soaps banned in healthcare: What should LTC facilities do next?
By
Megan DiGiorgio MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC
May 30, 2018
With a manufacturing cut-off date quickly approaching for soaps containing triclosan, long-term care facilities currently using them may be unsure of what to do next. Here are three steps they should take.
How to retrofit resident rooms into isolation rooms at long-term care facilities
By
Tom Kennedy
Jul 07, 2020
The latest government data counts 26,000 COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities. That’s a staggering 25% of the total COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. Facility managers are working hard to stop the...
Boosting infection control with new diagnostics
By
Evan Jones
Mar 27, 2019
The benefits of proper infection control are well-known in the long-term care community. Reducing transmission and limiting the number of patients afflicted by a particular strain are primary goals.
How to develop a water management program
By
Mark Goins
Jan 24, 2018
Since legionellosis is almost exclusively contracted via inhalation of the bacteria in droplets of water, fixtures that aerosolize water pose the highest risk.
Keep calm and pay your fines: This is not a good strategy
By
Mason Rothert
May 24, 2017
For the past two years, healthcare data breaches have been skyrocketing.
Caregiving in the ER – Part 1
By
Bob Bua and Charlotte S. Yeh
Oct 23, 2012
America’s emergency rooms are full of families going through crisis situations. When an accident or illness requires a visit to the ER, many families are likely to enter the scene overwhelmed and...
Managing a Legionnaires’ outbreak
By
Tim Keane
Apr 10, 2019
The CDC Legionella Environmental Health group may have some confusion on the definition of effective public health policy. The best type of effective public health policy should be the greatest public...