Living Well - Summer 2015 - Beaufort - (Page 3)

IntroductIons Vicki Allen, RN New INItIatIves Help eNsure patIeNt safety at BMH From reducing staph infections to helping to halt the spread of flu, Beaufort Memorial is continuously looking for ways to improve the quality and safety of the care it provides to patients, says Beaufort Memorial's infection prevention coordinator, Vicki Allen, RN pHOtO By tHInkStOCk Q What does BMH do to keep its patients safe? First and foremost, we follow evidence-based practices to guide all our healthcare decisions. In recent years, we have focused on the front end of care to prevent hospital-acquired conditions and the spread of infections and viruses. As an example, patients coming in for an elective joint replacement procedure are given Hibiclens, a skin cleanser that removes transient bacteria, because we know surgical-site infections are primarily skin-based organisms. We recommend patients use it to bathe starting five days prior to their surgery. Every point of entry in the hospital now has a respiratory-etiquette station stocked with tissues, face masks and antimicrobial hand soap for visitors or patients who come into the hospital sneezing or coughing. Last winter, during a particularly bad flu season, we took the precautionary measure of imposing visitation restrictions to control the spread of the virus. Most recently, we expanded our antimicrobial stewardship program to try to get a handle on the proliferation of bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics. We're working with area physicians and venturing into the community to educate the public on appropriate use of antibiotics. Q How successful have you been with the safety measures you've taken? By implementing new protocols, we were able to meet a federal goal of reducing hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent over a three-year period. In a number of areas, we far exceeded the 40 percent target. Our biggest success was with central line-associated bloodstream infections, which dropped to zero in 2014. We've also decreased C.difficile colitis by 27.9 percent by implementing the practice recommendations of a multidisciplinary team we created to combat the highly contagious infection. Q In the wake of the Ebola and measles outbreaks, what new safety initiatives have you implemented? As part of our admission process, we now ask patients whether they have traveled outside of the U.S. in the last 21 days. If they answer yes, we follow up with a series of questions to determine whether they could have been exposed to Ebola or other contagious diseases. n SUMME R 2015 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Living Well - Summer 2015 - Beaufort

Living Well - Summer 2015 - Beaufort

Living Well - Summer 2015 - Beaufort - (Page Cover1)
Living Well - Summer 2015 - Beaufort - (Page Cover2)
Living Well - Summer 2015 - Beaufort - Contents (Page 1)
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Living Well - Summer 2015 - Beaufort - Contents (Page 3)
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