Joint Commission Introduces New Ambulatory Antimicrobial Stewardship Requirements

The Joint Commission has announced new antimicrobial stewardship requirements for accredited ambulatory healthcare organizations that routinely prescribe antimicrobial medications.

The elements of performance (EPs) associated with new standard MM.09.01.03 — "Antimicrobial stewardship is identified as an organizational priority" — will become effective Jan. 1, 2020.

As noted in a Joint Commission news release, the five EPs associated with this standard address the following:

• Identifying an antimicrobial stewardship leader

• Establishing an annual antimicrobial stewardship goal

• Implementing evidence-based practice guidelines related to the antimicrobial stewardship goal

• Providing clinical staff with educational resources related to the antimicrobial stewardship goal

• Collecting, analyzing, and reporting data related to the antimicrobial stewardship goal

The Joint Commission noted stated that these new requirements are intended to "help decrease misuse of antimicrobial medications, which contributes to antibiotic resistance and adverse drug events."

Access the prepublication version of the antimicrobial stewardship requirements here.

CDC Offers New, Free Online Infection Control Training Resources

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced the availability of new, complimentary online interactive infection control training.

"Let's Talk Patient Safety: Reducing Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) Transmission Risk" is designed to help healthcare professionals identify infection risks and prevent the spread of HAIs.

The training provides free continuing education: 0.1 CEU and 0.6 CNE. It has two modules, with CDC estimating that it takes about 30 minutes to complete the training.

The modules are described as follows:

"What's the Risk?": This interactive module transports healthcare professionals into a scenario where they must identify infection risks and act to protect patients, colleagues and visitors.

"Chain of Infection": This story-based interactive module challenges professionals to break the chain of infection in a busy healthcare environment and educates them on the consequences of not following infection prevention and control recommendations.

The training is intended for administrators, advanced practice nurses, licensed practical/vocational nurses, medical assistants, other health educators, registered nurses and all other healthcare professionals involved in patient care.

Access this new infection prevention course here.

Study: Hospital Faucets Can Spread Contaminants in Patient Care Areas

The results of a study show that hospital faucet use can spread dangerous contaminants that may harm patients.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System and presented at the 46th Annual Conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), examined and measured the cleanliness of multiple faucet and sink designs.

Researchers found that "… a shallow depth of the sink bowl enabled potentially contaminated water to splash onto patient care items, healthcare worker hands and into patient care spaces — at times at a distance of more than four feet from the sink itself," according to an APIC news release.

Particularly alarming was that the inside of faucets — which typically cannot be cleaned — were found to be dirtier than researchers anticipated.

Study author Kristen VanderElzen, said, in the release, "Potentially hazardous germs in and around sinks present a quandary for infection preventionists, since having accessible sinks for hand washing is so integral to everything we promote."

APIC President Karen Hoffmann noted, "Because the healthcare environment can serve as a source of resistant organisms capable of causing dangerous infections, an organization's infection prevention and control program must ensure that measures are in place to reduce the risk of transmission from environmental sources and monitor compliance with those measures."