Building a Successful Infection Prevention Program: Key Components, Processes, and Economics.

Infection control is the discipline responsible for preventing health care-associated infections (HAIs) and has grown from an anonymous field, to a highly visible, multidisciplinary field of incredible importance. There has been increasing focus on prevention rather than control of HAIs. Infection prevention programs (IPPs) have enormous scope that spans multiple disciplines.

Widespread dissemination of CTX-M-15 genotype extended-spectrum-β-lactamase-producing enterobacteriaceae among patients presenting to community hospitals in the southeastern United States.

Extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing organisms are increasingly prevalent. We determined the characteristics of 66 consecutive ESBL-producing isolates from six community hospitals in North Carolina and Virginia from 2010 to 2012. Fifty-three (80%) ESBL-producing isolates contained CTX-M enzymes; CTX-M-15 was found in 68% of Escherichia coli and 73% of Klebsiella isolates.

The network approach for prevention of healthcare-associated infections: long-term effect of participation in the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network.

Objective: To describe the rates of several key outcomes and healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) among hospitals that participated in the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network (DICON).

Design And Setting: Prospective, observational cohort study of patients admitted to 24 community hospitals from 2003 through 2009.

Methods: The following data were collected and analyzed: incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), and HAIs caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); employee exposures to bloodborne pathogens (EBBPs); physician EBBPs; patient-days; central line-days; ventilator-days; and urinary catheter-days.

Building a successful infection prevention program: key components, processes, and economics.

Infection control is the discipline responsible for preventing nosocomial infections. There has been an increasing focus on prevention rather than control of hospital-acquired infections. Individuals working in infection control have seen their titles change from infection control practitioner to infection control professional and most recently to infection preventionist (IP), emphasizing their critical role in protecting patients.