Infection Control - St. Joseph Medical Center

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In This Issue Mission Possible: Infection Control It turns out that mom really knows best when she says, “Wash your hands before dinner!” “Excellent hand hygiene is the single most important thing to reduce the spread of infection,” said Leigh Chapman, RN, BSN, manager of Infection Control at St. Joseph, where handwashing has been taken to the highest level to combat well known infections such as MRSA and H1N1. Featured in USA Today As a result of St. Joseph’s gold standard in handwashing, which is 137 percent better than the average national hospital, MRSA infections at St. Joseph have been dramatically reduced by 49 percent. Not only were these results featured in USA Today in June, but St. Joseph’s Infection Control professionals also published a paper about these breakthrough results in an esteemed medical journal. Entitled “Sustained Hand Hygiene Initiative Reduces MRSA Transmissions,” the paper explains that the average U.S. hospital “rarely is able to achieve and sustain higher than a 50 percent compliance rate” in handwashing. * It is an unsettling reality that patients who come to the average hospital for healing may need to be wary of catching something they did not arrive with. A Ton of Prevention “It should give families peace of mind to know that when it comes to vigilant handwashing, St. Joseph Medical Center exceeds national standards,” explained Dr. Richard Boehler, St. Joseph’s chief medical officer. While the national average for handwashing at hospitals is just 40 percent, St. Joseph has been better than 90 percent over the last three years! Hand Sanitizer or Soap? “You can never go wrong with soap and water,” said Dr. Boehler. Sanitizer is good if hands aren’t visibly dirty. Use soap & water: • Before you eat • After the restroom • For visibly soiled hands For more details, go to: www.sjmcmd.org In addition, Infection Control is constantly monitoring for infection at the hospital. “We aggressively identify patients who are infected or carriers and isolate them,” said Chapman. And thanks to a high-tech machine that rapid tests for infection, St. Joseph can identify MRSA in two hours instead of the usual 48 hours needed. “St. Joseph goes that step beyond,” added Chapman. “State guidelines require testing in the Intensive Care Unit, but we are on the lookout for highly suspect or high-risk patients such as those from nursing homes with a history of infection.” “We routinely isolate high-risk patients for the safety of others,” stated Boehler. Always on the lookout for new ways to improve infection control, St. Joseph also took the initiative to place handwipes on all patients’ meal trays for convenient hand hygiene before meals. “We visited the nation’s leading hospital in infection control practice—the V.A. Hospital in Pittsburgh—and adopted a number of their best practices. Our results have even exceeded theirs,” said Boehler. * Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management, April 2009, “Sustained Hand Hygiene Initiative Reduces MRSA Transmissions,” by Robert Ancona, M.D., Richard Boehler, M.D., and Leigh Chapman, RN. Fall 2009 St. Joseph Medical Center / sjmcmd.org
Rapid Response Rapid to the Rescue! The Rapid Response Team (RRT) is an expert trio of a critical care physician, an intensive care nurse and a respiratory therapist that rushes to the patient’s bedside when called by the nurse or family. It’s a little like having an ambulance pull into the room— within minutes. In 2005, St. Joseph became the first Baltimore “There aren’t that many things in my career that I have seen have such a profound impact as the Rapid Response Team at St. Joseph.” Dr. Richard Boehler, Chief Medical Officer hospital to assemble an RRT. They’ve handled more than 1,700 calls from staff worried about unexpected changes in patients—such as instability or difficulty breathing. The team has prevented cardiac arrests and sudden deaths. “Code Blues at St. Joseph are down by 50 percent,” said Dr. Richard Linthicum, RRT critical care physician. St. Joseph’s High Quality Quotient: Zero Tolerance plus Rapid Response Several benchmarks stand out in the remarkable quality of care at St. Joseph Medical Center. The hospital can say, with genuine pride: • St. Joseph is among a select few U.S. medical centers to complete the rigorous full Joint Commission Survey with zero RFIs (Requirement for Improvement). Our last triennial Joint Commission survey in February 2008 resulted in this remarkable outcome. These surveys are intended to identify opportunities for improvement in delivery of care by this external regulatory agency. This significant accomplishment exemplifies St. Joseph’s commitment to our patients and our community. • St. Joseph’s Rapid Response Team increases patient survival rate by 233 percent. The national average for survival for a Code Blue (CPR) is 15 percent. Our rate is 50 percent. • St. Joseph’s overall mortality rates are less than half of what is predicted based on the severity of cases treated. Sepsis mortality (a dangerous inflammatory response due to infections) is the number one cause of death at a hospital. Our extremely low mortality rate places us in a select group of top 15 percent of U.S. hospitals. H1N1 Vigilantes When news of the H1N1 flu flooded the Baltimore area earlier this year, St. Joseph’s Infection Control department took the lead by immediately putting steps in place to identify symptoms, isolate possible cases, test for a diagnosis, welcome the worried to the Emergency Department, and provide messages to prevent illness and reassure the public. As a result, the local media flocked to St. Joseph to interview Dr. Richard Boehler, St. Joseph’s CMO, Leigh Chapman, RN, BSN, manager of Infection Control, and infectious disease specialist Dr. Charles Haile about H1N1—getting expert answers, advice and precautions. ‰ Don’t Let the Flu Get You! Visit www.sjmcmd.org for tips on keeping your family infection free and for flu shot updates. SJMcmd.org / St. Joseph Medical Center Fall 2009
Page 1 and 2: Fall 2009 / sjmcmd.org Mission Poss
Page 3: Obstetrics Ooh Baby, The Secret’s
Page 7 and 8: Oncology A Cozy Courageous Feeling
Page 9 and 10: DIn te Spirit d Inspired giving thr
Page 11 and 12: ZEN & NOW GIFTS IS HERE! Visitors t
Page 13 and 14: EMergency Care Faster ER Care, Than
Page 15 and 16: orthopaedics High-Demand, High-Tech
Page 17 and 18: Techno Bytes Radiosurgery—A Giant
Page 19 and 20: Community & Family Programs SUPPORT

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