Making a C-DIFFerence: Implementation of a prevention collaborative to reduce hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infection rates.

Objective: To assist hospitals in reducing Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implemented a collaborative using the CDC CDI prevention strategies and the Targeted Assessment for Prevention (TAP) Strategy as foundational frameworks. Setting: Acute-care hospitals. Methods: We invited 400 hospitals with the highest cumulative attributable differences (CADs) to the 12-month collaborative, with monthly webinars, coaching calls, and deployment of the CDC CDI TAP facility assessments. Infection prevention barriers, gaps identified, and interventions implemented were qualitatively coded by categorizing them to respective CDI prevention strategies. Standardized infection ratios (SIRs) were reviewed to measure outcomes. Results: Overall, 76 hospitals participated, most often reporting CDI testing as their greatest barrier to achieving reduction (61%). In total, 5,673 TAP assessments were collected across 46 (61%) hospitals. Most hospitals (98%) identified at least 1 gap related to testing and at least 1 gap related to infrastructure to support prevention. Among 14 follow-up hospitals, 64% implemented interventions related to infrastructure to support prevention (eg, establishing champions, reviewing individual CDIs) and 86% implemented testing interventions (eg, 2-step testing, testing algorithms). The SIR decrease between the pre-collaborative and post-collaborative periods was significant among participants (16.7%; P < .001) but less than that among nonparticipants (25.1%; P < .001). Conclusions: This article describes gaps identified and interventions implemented during a comprehensive CDI prevention collaborative in targeted hospitals, highlighting potential future areas of focus for CDI prevention efforts as well as reported challenges and barriers to prevention of one of the most common healthcare-associated infections affecting hospitals and patients nationwide.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on central-line-associated bloodstream infections during the early months of 2020, National Healthcare Safety Network.

Data reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC NHSN) were analyzed to understand the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in acute-care hospitals. Descriptive analysis of the standardized infection ratio (SIR) was conducted by location, location type, geographic area, and bed size.

Reducing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections Across a Hospital System Through Urine Culture Stewardship.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of an evidence-based urine culture stewardship program in reducing hospital catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) and the rate of CAUTIs across a 3-hospital system. Patients and Methods: This is a prospective, 2-year quality improvement program conducted from October 1, 2018, to September 30, 2020. An evidence-based urine culture stewardship program was designed, which consisted of the following: criteria for allowing or restricting urine cultures from catheterized patients, a best practice advisory integrated into the ordering system of an electronic medical record, and a systematic provider education and feedback program to ensure compliance. The system-wide rates of CAUTIs (total CAUTIs/catheter days×1000), changes in intercepts, trends, mortality, length of stay, rates of device utilization, and rates of hospital-onset sepsis were compared for 3 years before and 2 years after the launch of the program. Results: Catheter-associated urinary tract infections progressively decreased after the initiation of the program (B=-0.21, P=.001). When the trends before and after the initiation of the program were compared, there were no statistically significant increases in the ratio of actual to predicted hospital length of stay, intensive care unit length of stay, system-wide mortality, and intensive care unit mortality. Although the rates of hospital-acquired sepsis remained consistent after the implementation of the stewardship program through the first quarter of 2020, the rates showed an increase in the second and third quarters of 2020. However, hospital-onset sepsis events associated with the diagnosis of a urinary tract infection did not increase after the intervention. Conclusion: Urine culture stewardship is a safe and effective way to reduce CAUTIs among patients in a large multihospital health care system. Patient safety indicators appeared unchanged after the implementation of the program, and ongoing follow-up will improve confidence in the long-term sustainability of this strategy.

A qualitative assessment of factors affecting nursing home caregiving staff experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: A large portion of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States have occurred in nursing homes; however, current literature including the frontline perspective of staff working in nursing homes is limited. The objective of this qualitative assessment was to better understand what individual and facility level factors may have contributed to the impact of COVID-19 on Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) and Environmental Services (EVS) staff working in nursing homes. METHODS: Based on a simple random sample from the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), 7,520 facilities were emailed invitations requesting one CNA and/or one EVS staff member for participation in a voluntary focus group over Zoom. Facility characteristics were obtained via NHSN and publicly available sources; participant demographics were collected via SurveyMonkey during registration and polling during focus groups. Qualitative information was coded using NVIVO and Excel. RESULTS: Throughout April 2021, 23 focus groups including 110 participants from 84 facilities were conducted homogenous by participant role. Staffing problems were a recurring theme reported. Participants often cited the toll the pandemic took on their emotional well-being, describing increased stress, responsibilities, and time needed to complete their jobs. The lack of consistent and systematic guidance resulting in frequently changing infection prevention protocols was also reported across focus groups. CONCLUSIONS: Addressing concerns of low wages and lack of financial incentives may have the potential to attract and retain employees to help alleviate nursing home staff shortages. Additionally, access to mental health resources could help nursing home staff cope with the emotional burden of the COVID-19 pandemic. These frontline staff members provided invaluable insight and should be included in improvement efforts to support nursing homes recovering from the impact of COVID-19 as well as future pandemic planning.

Implementation of the Targeted Assessment for Prevention Strategy in a healthcare system to reduce Clostridioides difficile infection rates.

BACKGROUND: Prevention of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a national priority and may be facilitated by deployment of the Targeted Assessment for Prevention (TAP) Strategy, a quality improvement framework providing a focused approach to infection prevention. This article describes the process and outcomes of TAP Strategy implementation for CDI prevention in a healthcare system. METHODS: Hospital A was identified based on CDI surveillance data indicating an excess burden of infections above the national goal; hospitals B and C participated as part of systemwide deployment. TAP facility assessments were administered to staff to identify infection control gaps and inform CDI prevention interventions. Retrospective analysis was performed using negative-binomial, interrupted time series (ITS) regression to assess overall effect of targeted CDI prevention efforts. Analysis included hospital-onset, laboratory-identified C. difficile event data for 18 months before and after implementation of the TAP facility assessments. RESULTS: The systemwide monthly CDI rate significantly decreased at the intervention (ß2, -44%; P = .017), and the postintervention CDI rate trend showed a sustained decrease (ß1 + ß3; -12% per month; P = .008). At an individual hospital level, the CDI rate trend significantly decreased in the postintervention period at hospital A only (ß1 + ß3, -26% per month; P = .003). CONCLUSIONS: This project demonstrates TAP Strategy implementation in a healthcare system, yielding significant decrease in the laboratory-identified C. difficile rate trend in the postintervention period at the system level and in hospital A. This project highlights the potential benefit of directing prevention efforts to facilities with the highest burden of excess infections to more efficiently reduce CDI rates.

The role of plasma aminothiols in the prediction of coronary microvascular dysfunction and plaque vulnerability.

BACKGROUND: Although oxidative stress is considered a key pathogenic step in mediating vascular dysfunction and atherosclerosis development, their association has not been evaluated in human coronary circulation in vivo. Accordingly, we hypothesized that higher oxidative stress would be associated with abnormal coronary epicardial structure and microvascular function. METHODS: We measured coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) and hyperemic microvascular resistance (HMR) as indices of microvascular function, and epicardial plaque volume and necrotic core using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in 47 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Plasma glutathione, cystine and their ratio served as measures of oxidative stress while high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) served as a measure of inflammation. RESULTS: Lower glutathione, a measure of increased oxidative stress was associated with impaired microvascular function [CFVR (r=0.39, p=0.01) and HMR (r=-0.43, p=0.004)], greater plaque burden (r=-0.32, p=0.03) and necrotic core (r=-0.39, p=0.008). Similarly, higher cystine/glutathione ratio was associated with impaired microvascular function [CFVR (r=-0.29, p=0.04)] and greater necrotic core (r=0.37, p=0.01). In comparison, higher hs-CRP was associated only with greater necrotic core (r=0.45, p=0.003). After multivariate adjustment for age, gender, hypertension, diabetes, acute coronary syndrome presentation, body mass index, tobacco abuse, statin use and hs-CRP, glutathione remained an independent predictor of CFVR, HMR and necrotic core (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Lower plasma glutathione level a measure of increased oxidative stress, was an independent predictor of impaired coronary microvascular function and plaque necrotic core.

Patient perception versus medical record entry of health-related conditions among patients with heart failure.

A shared understanding of medical conditions between patients and their health care providers may improve self-care and outcomes. In this study, the concordance between responses to a medical history self-report (MHSR) form and the corresponding provider documentation in electronic health records (EHRs) of 19 select co-morbidities and habits in 230 patients with heart failure were evaluated. Overall concordance was assessed using the κ statistic, and crude, positive, and negative agreement were determined for each condition. Concordance between MHSR and EHR varied widely for cardiovascular conditions (κ = 0.37 to 0.96), noncardiovascular conditions (κ = 0.06 to 1.00), and habits (κ = 0.26 to 0.69). Less than 80% crude agreement was seen for history of arrhythmias (72%), dyslipidemia (74%), and hypertension (79%) among cardiovascular conditions and lung disease (70%) and peripheral arterial disease (78%) for noncardiovascular conditions. Perfect agreement was observed for only 1 of the 19 conditions (human immunodeficiency virus status). Negative agreement >80% was more frequent than >80% positive agreement for a condition (15 of 19 [79%] vs 8 of 19 [42%], respectively, p = 0.02). Only 20% of patients had concordant MSHRs and EHRs for all 7 cardiovascular conditions; in 40% of patients, concordance was observed for ≤5 conditions. For noncardiovascular conditions, only 28% of MSHR-EHR pairs agreed for all 9 conditions; 37% agreed for ≤7 conditions. Cumulatively, 39% of the pairs matched for ≤15 of 19 conditions. In conclusion, there is significant variation in the perceptions of patients with heart failure compared to providers' records of co-morbidities and habits. The root causes of this variation and its impact on outcomes need further study.