The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released new resources on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial resistance (AR). See below for more information.
Free Infection Preventionist Training for Nursing Home Staff: The CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality and Promotion released of the Nursing Home Infection Preventionist Training Course, a comprehensive, free, online training for staff responsible for infection prevention and control programs. The course, developed in collaboration with the CMS, provides an overview of the core activities of an infection prevention and control program and the recommended practices to reduce the spread of pathogens, healthcare-associated infections and antibiotic resistance in nursing homes. This training course is designed to help facilities provide staff with the required specialized infection prevention and control training as it relates to the phased implementation of CMS Requirements for Participation for Nursing Homes.
- The course is made up of 23 modules and sub-modules which can be taken in any order and over multiple sessions. There will be almost 20 hours of free continuing education available upon completion of the entire course and the post-course exam. The course is hosted on the CDC TRAIN learning network and can be accessed at https://www.train.org/cdctrain/training_plan/3814.
- While this training was developed to support infection prevention staff in nursing homes, health department staff and quality improvement partners working with nursing homes may also be interested in topics addressed in the course. Partners interested in promoting the course can obtain web-buttons for posting and additional information about the course at https://www.cdc.gov/longtermcare/training.html.
Interim Containment Guidance: CDC released the revised Interim Guidance for a Public Health Response to Contain Novel or Targeted Multidrug-resistant Organisms. The revised document is intended to clarify recommendations regarding contact investigations, particularly colonization screening and laboratory surveillance. In addition, as regional dissemination of MDROs is increasingly common, more language was added to encourage larger public health investigations that incorporate laboratory surveillance and colonization screening at facilities that have characteristics that increase the risk of MDRO transmission within the facility (even without a confirmed index case at the facility); examples include high-acuity post-acute care facilities or facilities that share patients with other facilities that have confirmed transmission of an MDRO.
Updated Patient Safety Atlas materials were released, March 21 and include:
- The 2017 National and State HAI Progress Report will be available at: https://www.cdc.gov/hai/data/portal/progress-report.html
- See how your state is doing by visiting the Patient Safety Atlas at: https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/PSA/HAIreport.html
- 2017 inpatient antibiotic stewardship data are now available at: https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/PSA/STMapView.html
