Early recognition and response to increases in surgical site infections using optimised statistical process control charts-The early 2RIS trial: A multicentre stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: Traditional approaches for surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance have deficiencies that delay detection of SSI outbreaks and other clinically important increases in SSI rates. We investigated whether use of optimised statistical process control (SPC) methods and feedback for SSI surveillance would decrease rates of SSI in a network of US community hospitals.

Methods: We conducted a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial of patients who underwent any of 13 types of common surgical procedures across 29 community hospitals in the Southeastern United States.

The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response on hospital infection prevention programs and practices in the southeastern United States.

Initial assessments of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) preparedness revealed resource shortages and variations in infection prevention policies across US hospitals. Our follow-up survey revealed improvement in resource availability, increase in testing capacity, and uniformity in infection prevention policies. Most importantly, the survey highlighted an increase in staffing shortages and use of travel nursing.

Assessing severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) preparedness in US community hospitals: A forgotten entity.

We performed a cross-sectional survey of infection preventionists in 60 US community hospitals between April 22 and May 8, 2020. Several differences in hospital preparedness for SARS-CoV-2 emerged with respect to personal protective equipment conservation strategies, protocols related to testing, universal masking, and restarting elective procedures.