Infection Control

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How We Prevent Infection at PinnacleHealth

At PinnacleHealth, we have a commitment to provide the safest and highest level of healthcare to our patients and to do everything possible to prevent the spread of infection at our facility.

Handwashing

Germs can be spread through the air (by coughing, sneezing) or by touching someone or something that is contaminated. The most important thing you can do to prevent the spread of infection is careful hand washing. Even if hands look clean, they can still carry harmful germs. You can clean your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.

At PinnacleHealth, handwashing is a priority. We educate our staff about when and how to wash their hands. Staff members and physicians are secretly observed to see if they are washing their hands when providing patient care. In 2011, there were over 5,000 handwashing observations performed with a result of 97% compliance with hospital handwashing requirements.

Staff Education

Our interventions have focused on educational programs for physicians, nurses and other clinical staff, utilizing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guidelines and IHI best practice recommendations.

Infection Prevention

In October 2011, the Pennsylvania Department of Health released their 2010 Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI’s) report. This report established benchmark HAI rates in the state of Pennsylvania. This report will serve as the first measure of progress toward decreasing infections in Pennsylvania hospitals.

PinnacleHealth was one of 16 Pennsylvania hospitals that had a lower than expected number of HAI’s for both Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections and Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections.

PinnacleHealth Central Line Associated Bloodstream HAI overall rate for 2010 was 0.31 per 1000 central line days. The statewide benchmark for Central Line Associated Bloodstream HAI is 0.93 per 1000 central line days.
PinnacleHealth NICU Central Line Associated Bloodstream HAI rate for 2010 was 0.40 per 1000 central line days. The statewide benchmark for NICU Central Line Associated Bloodstream HAI is 2.03 per 1000 central line days.
PinnacleHealth Catheter Associated Urinary Tract HAI rate for 2010 was 1.43 per 1000 catheter days. The statewide benchmark for Catheter Associated Urinary Tract HAI is 1.71 per 1000 catheter days.

The rate of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) in all of the PinnacleHealth Critical Care units was below the CDC Comparative Rate. PinnacleHealth follows the VHA Bundle for prevention of VAP and the CDC Guidelines for Prevention of Healthcare Associated Pneumonia.

The bundle includes the following recommendations:

The patient receives frequent oral care
The patient’s bed is elevated between 30-40 degrees
The patient receives appropriate sedation and frequent trials to see if they can come off of the ventilator
The patient receives the recommended medication to prevent stress ulcers and venous thromboembolism

PinnacleHealth has a consistently low rate of hospital associated multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO’s). Examples of MDRO’s are Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus, Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase (KPC)-Producing Organisms, Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase Producing Organisms (ESBL’s) and Clostridium difficile.

We follow the CDC Guidelines for Management of MDRO’s in the Healthcare Setting. Patients who have an MDRO are placed in Contact Precautions. This means that staff and visitors will wear a gown and gloves when going into the patient’s room and in most cases the patient will have a private room.

In order to prevent surgical site infections, PinnacleHealth follows the CDC Guidelines for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infections and the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) Guidelines.

Recommendations include:

Pre-operative antibiotics are received within the designated time frame before surgery begins. .
Pre-operative antibiotics are selected based on the current recommended guidelines. PinnacleHealth System patients received the recommended pre-operative antibiotic 98% of the time.
Prophylactic antibiotics are discontinued at the right time.
Please visit the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) page to see PinnacleHealth's compliance with these measures.

Visitors

When visiting our hospital, please consider the following:

Refrain from visiting patients if you have any illnesses such as vomiting, diarrhea, cough, fever, flu-like symptoms or any infectious conditions.
Clean your hands before and after visiting.
Read and follow any instructions posted outside the patient’s room. Special precautions may be taken because of a known or suspected infection. These special precautions may include wearing a mask, or gown and gloves while in the patient’s room.

Patients

If you are a patient in our hospital, please be aware that:

You may be placed in special precautions during your stay.
You may be tested to see if you are colonized with MRSA. This test is performed by putting a cotton-tipped swab in your nose and rubbing it around then testing the swab for the presence of MRSA.
It is important that you take an active role in your health care. Please remind visitors and health care providers to clean their hands when they come and go from your room.

You can refer to the following Patient Education sheets for more information: