Bad leaders are roadblocks to patient care, but good leaders help it thrive. Effective leadership will be a vital part of patient safety and running a successful healthcare organization as we approach 2025 and continue to navigate rising levels of violence, artificial intelligence, nursing...
When the Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) program at Ohio State’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health set out to find the best ways and timing to reach out to those who have experienced a traumatic event, it discovered that victims weren’t the only ones in need of support....
This is Part 2 of our interview with Patricia McGaffigan, RN, MS, CPPS, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)’s senior advisor and president of the Certification Board of Professionals in Patient Safety. PSMJ spoke with McGaffigan about the Certified...
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement recently announced that 7,000 healthcare professionals around the world have earned the organization’s Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) credential. PSMJ sat down with Patricia McGaffigan of IHI to ask her about the...
The CDC believes that healthcare worker burnout impacts the quality and safety of patient care, including increased medical errors and hospital-acquired infections among patients. Overburdened staff—due to inadequate or high patient-to-staff ratios, a negative workplace culture, poor...
We continue our interview with Ivan W. Gowe, MS, MLS (ASCP)CM, CIC, FAPIC, a hospital infection preventionist in North Carolina, and Ashley Reyes, MPH, CIC, an infection preventionist from Pardee UNC Health, on bloodstream infections (BSI) and how to prevent them.
Within healthcare, bloodstream infections (BSI) are an evergreen danger for patients. Caused when bacteria enter a patient’s bloodstream via a laceration or the insertion of a medical device, BSI prevention is a topic that infection preventionists are constantly working on.To learn more about...
As children across the country head back to school, the risk of viruses and infections spreading increases. Teachers, students, and staff all come into close contact with one another on school grounds, making it extremely easy to transmit illnesses such as influenza, COVID-19, respiratory...
This is Part 2 of our interview with Rachelle Babin, MBA, BSN, RN, CEC, CMMT, certified executive coach and consultant at Rachelle Babin Leadership, on high-level disinfection (HLD) of medical equipment. Human error, missed cleaning steps, or not following manufacturer’s instructions for use (...
Despite the danger to patients and repeated citations from CMS and other accreditors, many healthcare organizations still struggle to properly perform high-level disinfection (HLD) of medical equipment, says Rachelle Babin, MBA, BSN, RN, CEC, CMMT, certified executive coach and consultant at...
